So much, so close!
Located in the heart of the business district, downtown Gainesville is home to a number of boutique and second-generation specialty stores, a wide variety of restaurants, entertainment and a vibrant nightlife!
Get Around Downtown!
Need help finding your way through Downtown Gainesville? Check out our awesome Downtown Map and the City of Gainesville’s WeGo service!
Downtown Spotlights
First Friday Concerts continue ON THE SQUARE in Historic Downtown Gainesville!
Join us every Wednesday in July from 6-9pm for Gainesvilleโs Hot Summer Nights on the Historic Downtown Square!
The Downtown Dining Trolley is BACK, running this summer Thursday-Saturday in Downtown Gainesville!
Upcoming Events
Save the date, or rather save the DATES because Gainesvilleโs calendar is filled with exciting events. Join us for annual events such as the Chicken Festival, Jingle Mingle, Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival, First Fridays, Beach Bash, Food Truck Fridays and more!
Stay Connected!
Keep up with the latest by following us on our social media!
For those of you who love First Friday Concerts- tonight is a great opportunity for a FREE out door concert at the Smithgall Arts Center in Downtown Gainesville!
Today, Friday, July 26th, Rush Of Fools will take the stage at 7pm! Come downtown for a bite to eat before the show. Bring your lawn chairs or blankets and enjoy this FREE community event – Rain or Shine! Gates open at 6pm.
FB EVENT: RUSH OF FOOLS – FREE CONCERT!!!
For more information about the Peach State Bank & Trust Summer Music Series, visit: www.TheArtsCouncil.net
#GVLGA #downtowngainesvillega #gainesvillega #livemusic #fridaynight #freeconcert #christianmusic #christianrock #nonprofit #CommunityEvent๐ขTHIS FRIDAY – FREE CONCERT๐ข
Join us this Friday, July 26th for Rush Of Fools at the Smithgall Arts Center! A FREE CHRISTIAN ROCK CONCERT!
Bring your lawn chairs or blankets and enjoy this FREE community event – Rain or Shine!
Gates open at 6pm & Show starts at 7pm!
For more information about the Peach State Bank & Trust Summer Music Series, visit: www.TheArtsCouncil.net
The JOY FM
#freeconcert #christianmusic #christianrock #nonprofit #CommunityEvent … See MoreSee Less
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We are one week away from our August First Friday Concert!
Join us for our free summer concert series on Friday, August 2nd featuring Fly Betty Band!
Gainesville's hometown party band has made waves through the Atlanta region, and we're ready to welcome them home right here on the Historic Downtown Square this summer. Get ready to sing and dance along to all your favorite hit songs!
Thank you to Hasty Pope for being our Featured Series Sponsor.
Website: www.exploregainesville.org/first-friday-concerts/
FB Event: www.facebook.com/events/382992914647070
#GVLGA #downtowngainesvillega #gainesvillega #firstfridays #communitylife #shopsmall #eatlocal Explore Gainesville … See MoreSee Less
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Throw Back Thursday: Cheers to summertime circa 2002 on the Historic Gainesville Square!
#gvlga #downtowngainesvillega #gainesvillega #historicpreservation #gadowntowns Explore Gainesville … See MoreSee Less
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A result of 6 years of an active Main Street program resulting in being named the top program in Georgia in 2003.
Thanks. Thanks for all you are doing to keep it alive.
*update: we have wrapped up early tonight due to rain.*
Hot Summer Nights are kicking off tonight!
A big thank you to Artisan Built Communities for being our โshop smallโ sponsor for tonightโs event! Tonightโs featured charity is Good Samaritan Food Ministries; stop by their booth to learn more about their impact in our community!
Live music, local vendors will be out until 9pm. Itโs a great night to check out all our local restaurants, boutiques, and services on the Historic Gainesville Square. โค๏ธ
@academysoutheast @exploregainesvillega #gvlga #downtowngainesvillega #livelocal #livemusic #shopsmall … See MoreSee Less
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Love how we Gainesville ๐๐พ๐บ
TONIGHT is our 3rd Hot Summer Nights event on the Historic Gainesville Square!
Join us every Wednesday in July from 6-9pm: Hot Summer nights are all about celebrating our hometown, with homegrown fun! As the sun goes down, head downtown for dinner, shopping, and live music. If you want to hang out for a while, plan to bring your own lawn chairs or picnic blankets or snag a spot on a bench in the park.
Enjoy local Gainesville vendors along with a local charity that weโll be supporting/celebrating for the evening! The โGainesville Micro Music Festivalยฎโ is a unique, vetted style of an Open Mic Night for communities around the Atlanta Area. Weโre thrilled to feature North Georgia artists during our Hot Summer Nights event.
Learn More: www.facebook.com/events/330824133376620
Website: www.exploregainesville.org/hot-summer-nights/
#GVLGA #downtowngainesvillega #gainesvillega #livelocal #localmusic #eatlocal #playlocal #shopsmall … See MoreSee Less
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We had a little fun today introducing Jesse the Gainesville Chicken to some of our friends on the Historic Square!
(Did you know Jesse is named after Jesse Jewell, who is widely credited with making Gainesville the Poultry Capital of the World? ๐๐)
#gvlga #downtowngainesvillega #gainesvillega #poultrycapital Explore Gainesville City of Gainesville, Georgia Access WDUN … See MoreSee Less
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Our next Hot Summer Nights event is tomorrow on the Historic Gainesville Square!
Join us Wednesdays in July from 6-9pm- Hot Summer nights are all about celebrating our hometown, with homegrown fun! As the sun goes down, head downtown for dinner, shopping, and live music. If you want to hang out for a while, bring your lawn chairs or picnic blankets or snag a spot on a bench in the park.
Enjoy local Gainesville vendors along with a local charity that weโll be supporting/celebrating for the evening! The Gainesville Micro Music Festival will provide music from local North Georgia Artists.
FB EVENT: www.facebook.com/events/330824133376620
Website: www.exploregainesville.org/hot-summer-nights/
#GVLGA #downtowngainesvillega #gainesvillega #livelocal #localmusic #eatlocal #playlocal #shopsmall … See MoreSee Less
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๐๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ๐๐๐ถ๐น๐น๐ฒโ๐ ๐๐ผ๐ผ๐ป-๐๐ผ-๐๐๐๐ป ๐ฝ๐๐ฏ๐น๐ถ๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฎ โ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐โ
๐๐ถ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ช๐ค ๐๐ณ๐ต ๐๐ข๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด๐ท๐ช๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ, ๐๐ช๐ต๐บ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ข๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด๐ท๐ช๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ด๐ค๐ถ๐ญ๐ฑ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ญ๐ต ๐๐ฒ๐ถ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ
GAINESVILLE, Ga. (June 4, 2024) โ Public Art Gainesville, GA (Vision 2030 Public Art) in partnership with the City of Gainesville, Georgia, isnโt โdragonโ its feet on its newest public art endeavor. In fact, the organizations are โslayingโ the public art game and breathing some fire into their latest efforts to have โArt Everywhereโ in Gainesville, which they hope to rebrand as a popular art destination.
Public Art Gainesville, the new name for the Vision 2030 group, unveiled plans during Main Street Gainesvilleโs second annual Art Walk to bring interactive dragon art to Roosevelt Square in Downtown Gainesville. The dragon, the first interactive art piece to be installed downtown in years, will serve as yet another avenue to attract visitors to the historic square, which has become the hotspot for those seeking the best in restaurants, retail, entertainment and tasting rooms.
โGreat communities have great art,โ exclaimed Assistant City Manager Angela Sheppard. โWe love the idea of the dragon as it was inspired by Gainesvilleโs lengthy history of hosting the Atlanta Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival for the last 26 years, soon to be 27, at Lake Lanier Olympic Park (LLOP).โ
As a result of hosting these dragon boat races, LLOP has welcomed hundreds of thousands of visitors, rowers, tourists and athletes from around the world. Inspired by the cultural and historical significance of these races on Lake Lanier, Public Art Gainesville and the City set out to create a piece of interactive public art unlike any other.
โReally, the vision that we had was trying to bring a little bit of Lake Lanier to downtown Gainesville,โ Sheppard said. โOf course, we're a lake community and everybody knows us as a lake community, but we really wanted to have more of that represented in our art. So we thought what a great way to do that by having this dragon.โ
The installation, designed by Todd Vaught with Atlanta-based Confluence Design, will stand 14 feet, 6 inches tall and measure 30 feet long.
โThe dragon โ it's kind of this interesting, unique blend of art and technology,โ Sheppard explained. โThe dragon will come to life at certain times of the day. It will roar, it will blow some steam out of its nose as if it's breathing fire, its mouth will light up, its eyes will light up. So it'll just be this really unique experience for visitors to come and see.โ
The art display is a smaller part of a larger improvements project underway on the Cityโs downtown campus. Under this three-phase project, the City will continue work to improve pedestrian flow, repair broken sidewalks and ensure accessibility for all. In addition to Roosevelt Square/the Brenau Plaza, the scope of the project includes improved sidewalks along Jesse Jewell Parkway between E.E. Butler Parkway and Main Street, and a redesigned entrance to the Gainesville Administration Building on the Jesse Jewell side.
For the interactive dragon art component, however, Public Art Gainesville recently kicked off its fundraising campaign, selling โ500 names for $500,โ which will ultimately be engraved on a set of sleek 3-foot-tall granite walls surrounding the public art piece. Donors who contribute a tax-deductible donation may secure one or more spots where they can opt to engrave an individualโs name, coupleโs names, family name or business name. The opportunity to become a โFriend of the Dragonโ is available to anyone and everyone until July 31. The walls themselves will be enhanced by replaceable content panels, where organizers plan to share the dragon's story, along with a permanent artwork overview plaque.
Donors have up to 34 characters (including spaces) to spotlight an individual's name, couple's names, family name or business name (ex. John Smith, John and Jane Smith, The Smith Family or The Smiths, or The Smith Company). Engravings will measure .75 inches tall and will allow donors to leave a lasting mark on the downtown cityscape.
The City hopes the dragon and its surrounding plaza will be complete by early fall 2024.
To learn more or donate to the cause, visit PublicArtGainesvilleGA.com or donorbox.org/cityofgainesvilledragon. … See MoreSee Less
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