CANTON, Ohio — Every first Friday during the Spring and Summer months, Downtown Canton hosts "First Friday" to draw people in for a good time and to also help revitalize the area.
“It’s all about economic development,” said First Friday Manager Jonathan Becker.
17 years ago, Becker told News 5 that the monthly event started as a way to expose people to Downtown Canton.
“The artists originally began to hold First Fridays; they were the ones that organized it. They started the whole tradition,” said Becker.
Now, the celebration has grown into a city-wide event filled with live entertainment, food and support from local vendors like Passion at Midnight Macarons in North Canton.
“I’m Canton born, and Canton raised, so I like to support my community. We started up as a bakery with COVID and we’ve been running strong for about four years straight now,” said Chef Seth Trissel.
Specializing in desserts, Trissel said you can’t find anywhere else; he says the bakery makes it a priority to come to First Friday every month to show people Canton is a special place.
“A lot of people come down here for football, but we have a lot more culture than just football in Canton,” said Trissel.
Meanwhile, the owners of a local boxing gym in Louisville, Ohio, say they came out to pour into the next generation.
“He grew up here and I grew up here, and we just want to give back to the community and give back to the kids really,” said Kristy and Deon Montgomery.
To do that, Kristy and her husband, Deon, brought FFLA Boxing to the community.
“We’re looking to bring in more members to the gym. We have a lot of members in Louisville right now, we’re just looking to capture some members over here in Canton and North Canton area,” said Kristy.
As Canton continues to go through its period of revitalization, Becker believes events like this one will only help further the city’s growth.
“We talk a lot about economic impact and what that means is that somebody comes downtown for this event, and they also go to a restaurant, they go to a bar, they see a business they haven’t ever seen before, and they think about it and they come back downtown,” said Becker.
If you missed this First Friday, you’re encouraged to come to their next one during the Fourth of July weekend.
