If you’re looking to get out and enjoy the summer weather with a little al fresco shopping and dining, music, and more, downtown Essex has something new for you. Debuting on Thursday, June 7 the Essex Board of Trade will host the first of three 1st Thursdays on Main Street in Essex.

On these 1st Thursdays, the shops and restaurants of Main Street in Essex will stay open late and offer special discounts that will vary from store to store.

“Evening retail hours on first Thursdays add another dimension of excitement to our picturesque and vibrant village filled with unique boutiques, galleries, and restaurants,” said Essex Board of Trade President Amy Cameron. “We want the entire community and visitors to come out to shop, stroll, socialize, eat, drink, and partake in a lively Main Street experience.”

Each first Thursday of the month will have its own theme. On June 7, the theme will be “Essex in Bloom.”

“While the primary goal of Essex in Bloom is to create a festive evening on Thursday, it’s also intended to provide a fitting and friendly welcome for visitors to the Friends of the Essex Library Garden Tour” said Cameron.

The Friends of the Essex Library Garden Tour is on Saturday, June 9, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. For more information, visit www.youressexlibrary.org.

“Everything will be blooming. Window boxes and planters and gardens…the town will look fabulous,” said Susan Dee, who is helping publicize the series. “We’ll be ready for summer and the shops will be filled with new, fresh merchandise for the season.”

Not only will the shops on Main Street be open later, but restaurants will be participating as well by offering different discounts that will correlate with the theme that week.

Olive Oyl’s Cuisine at the top of Main Street will open its garage doors to provide music on the patio and will grill outdoors to support the al fresco atmosphere the Board of Trade is promoting. Olive Oyl’s will also host its first Antique and Classic Car show in its 24 spot parking lot, with assistance from Ralph Hermann from Antique Auto Service of Centerbook.

The Griswold Inn will serve garden-inspired cocktails as well as food, on the patio and offer live music by the Dizzy River Band.

Farther down Main Street, the Connecticut River Museum is going to have an exhibit from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. called The Thirsty River, which will include a tasting with Yankee Cider Company. The gift shop will be open later and there will be an open rum bar on the museum’s waterside deck.

“The idea is we’re going to have something going on from the top of Main Street where Olive Oyl’s is, the Griswold Inn is midway point, and Connecticut River Museum is at the foot of Main. So you really stretch the whole Main Street with the stores in between where stuff is going to be going on,” Dee said.

The second 1st Thursday event will be on Thursday, July 5 with the theme “Essex Celebrates the 4th” and the final event will be held Thursday, Aug. 2 with the theme “Essex is Hot, Hot, Hot.”

While the event is scheduled from 5 to 7 p.m., Dee said “if people are out and shopping, [the shops] are going to stay open. Some will stay open ‘til 8, some will stay open to 9.”

For more information on Essex 1st Thursdays including retail discounts, visit essexct.com.