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First Thursdays Return May 4

Looking for a way to support local businesses while experiencing performing arts? First Thursdays will return to Clinton starting May 4 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. and running until the fall.

The First Thursday program is an initiative started by the Clinton Arts Council (CAC) that seeks to draw residents downtown in the evenings on the first Thursday of each month to experience visual arts in different business locations on Main Street. The idea for the program is that businesses will host a musician or other type of visual artist in their space. There will also be food and beverage vendors, and visitors are encouraged to walk from station to station like it’s an arts festival while also checking out the wares for sale in each business.

Per a release from the CAC, patrons will be able to visit Chips Pub III, Grand Apizza Scottish Dave’s, Fringe, Clinton Art Gallery, the Italian Food Store, and Liberty Bank Park during First Thursdays.

“All these venues will have a special discount available during the First Thursday event,” the release states.

CAC Board President Steve Van Ness said that the council is eager to find artists to sign up for the program and that interested performers should contact ClintonArtsCouncil@gmail.com.

According to Van Ness, the CAC has big plans for the program in 2023. “We’re looking to expand and have a little more of a festive atmosphere,” said Van Ness. The CAC is able to keep the program running from May to October thanks to a Connecticut Humanities grant.

Besides the return of First Thursdays, Van Ness said that the CAC is also planning an arts festival that will be held at the Pierson School property in June. Details on that event are still being finalized.

“The biggest single goal of this is to increase foot traffic in downtown Clinton and in the arts district,” said Van Ness.

To help with that end, the CAC has also developed a new website with a comprehensive calendar for all local organizations. The website, www.experienceclinton.com, was developed using a portion of the town’s ARPA money.

“We did a survey of the community, and the biggest thing we heard was people kept saying ‘we have no idea what’s happening in town. There’s no master list anywhere’ well, this will be a comprehensive calendar. It will also have information on local restaurants, too. We want this website to be useful for Clintonians as well as non-Clinton residents,” Van Ness explained.

First Thursdays officially began in 2019, and organizers were excited by the idea, which they hoped would grow. Unfortunately, that progress has taken some time due to circumstances outside their control.

“We basically lost two years because of COVID where we couldn’t do this, so it’s the third year of First Thursdays, but its also really the fifth year in a way,” said Van Ness.

“We really want to get more community awareness about this and get as much of the community out as possible,” said Van Ness.

For more information about performing at Clinton’s First Thursday events, visit www.experienceclinton.com or ww.facebook.com/ClintonArtsCouncil.