The Downtown Statesboro Development Authority (DSDA) will kick off Easter Weekend and the entire month of April by making a little noise downtown Friday evening.
    DSDA’s monthly F1RST Friday event will once again take over the Bulloch County Courthouse Square on East Main Street beginning at 5:30 p.m., and this time feature live musical performances by an assortment of Georgia Southern University artists.
    Three local groups — Cold Duck Time (a jazz band), Southern Saxophones and Southern Quartet — will each entertain crowds during the evening, as folks meander downtown to enjoy activities, patron a collection of vendors and soak up all of the sites and sounds. 
    “It is going to be a great evening,” said Elena McLendon, Office Manager and Event Coordinator for the DSDA. “We are really excited.”
    “We are going to feature great music and over 22 vendors. We will have pizza, barbecue, popcorn, cupcakes and you name it,” she said. “We will have jewelry vendors, people making tie-dye t-shirts, and a moon bounce that will be fun for kids.”
    The event will also include a cakewalk to win an Easter-egg basket — filled with an assortment of items — McLendon said. The cakewalk, and a face-painting station, will be hosted by Georgia Southern University’s Master of Public Administration Program Relay for Life team, who will be raising money for their cause.
    Musical performances will begin at 6:30 p.m. when Cold Duck Time takes the stage for an hour-long show. Southern Quartet will play from 6:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. and be followed by Southern Saxophones, who will perform until 7:30 p.m.
    “I think the live music on the courthouse lawn is just great,” McLendon said. “And it gives Georgia Southern students and the local community a wonderful reason to visit downtown, which helps the viability of our city.”
    “(The event) gives people something fun to do on a Friday night,” she said.
    As usual, several downtown businesses will remain open after their regular hours in celebration of the F1RST Friday event.
    According to McLendon, the opening of a pair of art galleries, featuring the work of Bulloch County students, will coincide with activities.
    The galleries will be on display at the Averitt Center for the Arts.
    The F1RST Friday celebration will conclude at 8 p.m.
    For more information about the event, people can contact the Downtown Statesboro Development Authority by calling 912-764-7227 or emailing mainstreet@statesborodowntown.com.
   
    Jeff Harrison can be reached at (912) 489-9454.