By MADELEINE HOYT
Friday, June 3rd, is First Friday, and the best way to start your summer off right. Missoula in Motion, Missoula Parking Commission, Business Improvement District (BID) of Downtown Missoula, and several local businesses have partnered to bring you Parklets and Pianos. Starting around 10am, there will be four parklets and four pianos Downtown for visitors and locals alike to enjoy – adding to the vibrancy and experience of First Fridays.
Parklets are back due to popular demand! Experience the sights and sounds of the city from a front row, curb side seat in a converted parking space along Higgins Ave. These creative spaces provide the perfect pit-stop for lunch, a meeting, or shopping spree. These pop up parks spring up for one day each month on First Friday and are sponsored by different businesses.
The innovative use of parking spaces as temporary urban parks is a great way to re-envision how we use public space and how we can weave a dynamic downtown experience for people passing through the City on foot and on bike. Visit all 4 parklets this June between 10am and 8pm! Enjoy a cup of joe at in the parklet at Worden’s, flip through a book in the shady hideaway outside Fact and Fiction, connect with a friend in the colorful seating by Climate Smart outside the Florence Building, and cross the bridge to Betty’s Divine in the Hip Strip for some parklet funk.
Missoula Parklet. Photo courtesy of City of Missoula.
And don’t forget to enjoy a little music along the way! What better way to start your Friday than by playing Ludwig van Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata or Johann Sebastian Bach’s Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring in beautiful Downtown Missoula. Sure, most of us can’t play such amazing compositions, but starting Friday, June 3rd, we can all go Downtown and channel our inner musician every day until the end of summer.
Local Missoulian artist, Luke Smith, is the mastermind behind the Mr. Fox piano that Leonardo DiCaprio was seen playing last year outside of Worden’s. We are thrilled to have him back painting one of our pianos this year. Make sure to stop by Worden’s to see Luke’s incredible art work, play the piano, and hangout in one of our parklets.
For more information contact the Downtown Missoula Partnership at (406) 543-4238 or missouladowntown.com.