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Mortgage Motivation
The Legacy of Downtown Alive: An Inside Look with Jessica Hauerwas
Experience the pulsating heart of Acadiana through the stories of Jessica Hauerwas from Downtown Alive, as she orchestrates the rhythms of our city's cherished free concert series. With a spring in our step and music in our ears, we journey into the behind-the-scenes magic of bringing the 41st season to life. Jessica, the mastermind executive director, reveals how the once quiet Friday nights have transformed into an exuberant tapestry of community celebration. We're not just chatting about any ordinary event; this is a cultural revival, where the streets dance with the legacy and promise of Downtown Alive's vibrant history.
Cue the music and mark your calendars! Jessica gives us an insider’s scoop on the lineup that's setting the stage for the first Fridays of spring and fall. From the heartfelt performances by local band LVVRS to Corey Ledet's Zydeco grooves and Dustin Sonnier's country twang, there's a beat for every soul. Nestled in the warm embrace of Parc Sans Souci, Jessica paints a picture of family-friendly gatherings under the stars, where the community's heartbeat syncs to the sounds of celebration. Tune in for an episode that not only echoes the joy of Acadiana's Friday nights but also strikes a chord with the harmonious spirit of our downtown's awakening.
Welcome to this episode of Mortgage Motivation. Jessica, how are us right? That's right, you got it, I got it All right. I'm impressed with myself because, lord knows, I am the worst when it comes to names. So, jessica's with Downtown Alive, we're super excited with Spring Among Us, best time of the year. Tell me a little bit about the event and your role there, and what do you do?
Speaker 2:Yeah, of course. So Downtown Alive is the concert series and it's the longest standing free concert series in Acadiana. We are heading into our 41st season, which is kind of crazy to think about, but our organization, Downtown Lafayette Unlimited, started this 41 years ago in the effort to try and get foot traffic downtown on Friday nights. You would pull up on Jefferson Street and it was dead, and so it was kind of their way of trying to breathe a little bit more air and have more foot traffic come to the district. And that has obviously changed. If you go downtown on a Friday night, it's usually not sparse. There's usually lots of people eating and hanging out. So this year we shook up the lineup a little bit and changed it to being the first Friday in the spring and in the fall. So we thought that it's a good opportunity to kind of spread the music out a little bit and also allow people to plan their calendars accordingly. So we just decided to release the whole year's lineup so people could save the date.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's awesome. So what is the exact date of the first spring concert?
Speaker 2:So we just had our launch on Friday of last week, on March 1st, with the band Lovers. So we just had our launch on Friday of last week, on March 1st with the band Lovers oh, okay, they're from right here in Lafayette and they have a really cool story where it was their Downtown Alive debut and the lead singer actually would watch his dad on stage at Downtown Alive when he was young. So it was a very cool full circle moment and for someone to kind of have a lifelong dream of playing Downtown Alive, it was a really unique and cool experience for me as executive director to see the band, see the crowd that they brought out, and also for the crowd to get so into it. It's really a unique gift when your job is to line up great bands and see people in the community come out and see their favorite bands for free. So a very cool evening to start the season.
Speaker 1:We know the event is downtown, but exactly where downtown are the concerts?
Speaker 2:So this year all of the shows are in Parc Sans Souci, which is a smaller park, and all the music has been shifted up a little bit.
Speaker 1:And for those of you who don't know, that's the park where the Lafayette that's right, the Y Lafayette sign. Yeah, across, don't know. That's the park where the Lafayette, that's right, the Y Lafayette sign. Yeah, yeah, across from a.
Speaker 2:Gagave, wild Child line, etc. Yep, yeah, so can you give us a little bit a sneak peek on what the upcoming spring lineup looks like? Absolutely so. One of the things we also decided to do was shift the music up from 6 to 8 30. Um, I have three kids who are four and under, so I like to be in bed by nine and I think some of the community agrees. So we also are holding it at Park Slum City because our playground will be open soon so people can enjoy the music. Kids could come out. It's kid-friendly. Our next show is April 5th and Corey Ledet is going to be playing with us.
Speaker 1:I love him he's wonderful, a Zydeco favorite for sure.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. And then May 3rd will be Dustin Sonier, kind of a country singer-songwriter, vibe.
Speaker 1:So we've kind of tried to shake it up so it's consistently the first Friday of the month, not every Friday.
Speaker 2:Right In the spring and in the fall. We figured that June, july and August is a little too hot for anyone to be outside sometimes. So we have April 5th, may 3rd and then we come back September 6th with our UL Downtown Alive, where the good dudes will be playing, and we have a great partnership with UL where they make it part of their kickoff for the school year, and we had a wonderful showing last year where the students were able to have an easy plug-in with downtown, and so we wanted to have another UL DTA again. So that'll be September 6th, and then in October it's the Debtors, who are an indie rock band and have a cool presence here, and then November 1st we will close out the season in the year with Terry and the Zydeco Bad Boys.
Speaker 1:Another Zydeco favorite. That's right, another Zydeco favorite. Well, thank you so much. I'm super excited and one thing I want to mention and remind everyone on how much this is a family event bring your blanket, bring your chair, come out, take a seat. They have vendors out there where you can grab dinner. You can get po'boys. Another, if you're looking to volunteer because DTA is always looking for volunteers and if they're interested in volunteering, how would they sign up for that?
Speaker 2:Of course. So I mean obviously to your point. Free concerts are not always free for people putting them course. So I mean obviously to your point. Free concerts are not always free for people putting them on. So we rely on the generosity of our volunteers lending their time. We rely on the generosity of our sponsors. So Evangeline Maid, who's our presenting sponsor again this year it is so good to us along with Cost Communications and LUS. So people can go online if they feel so compelled to volunteer or if their organization or just a personal donation toward the concert series. They can go to downtownlafayetteorg or visit any of our social media platforms well.
Speaker 1:thank you so much, jess, for joining us, and jessica, how are us? That's right. Thank you for coming and thank you for your efforts with Downtown Alive, and I'm looking forward to being out there with the grandkids and the family and enjoying the music, and looking forward to visiting with you then.
Speaker 2:Awesome. Thank you so much for having me, I appreciate it, you're welcome.