EP #168 What Does It Take To Make A Downtown Feel Alive

Most of us show up downtown, enjoy the lights, the music, the buzz, and assume “the city must be behind this.” That assumption misses a big part of the story. We sit down with Chris Allen, executive director of Fredericksburg Main Street, to explain how this local nonprofit helps shape a thriving downtown Fredericksburg inside the historic district, from signature events to the small details that make a place feel welcoming. 

Chris breaks down how Fredericksburg Main Street partners with city teams like economic development, tourism, and the EDA while staying independent in mission and funding. We talk about the real mechanics behind downtown placemaking: where grants fit in, why sponsorships matter, and how community donations help turn ideas into experiences. You’ll also hear how partnership projects have supported major holiday moments like the Riverfront Park tree lighting, including the grant that helped bring in the 30 foot Christmas tree and expanding seasonal lights. 

We also look forward. Chris shares what’s coming with Downtown Summer Nights, a weekly Thursday “open late” series designed to match the foot traffic after 5 pm with live street music, yard games, and more reasons to linger between dinner and dessert. He even teases a possible downtown fall festival with that classic Hallmark town feel. If you care about small business support, downtown revitalization, and Fredericksburg events that build real community, this one is for you. Subscribe, share with a neighbor, and leave a review so more people can find the show.

Chris Allen

Fredericksburg Main Street

fredericksburgmainstreet.org

info@fredericksburgmainstreet.org

+1 540-479-1595

601 Caroline Street, Fredericksburg, VA

Transcript

Welcome And Meet Chris Allen

Speaker 1 0:01

This is the Fredericksburg Neighbors Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together.

Speaker 0:13

Welcome back to another episode of the FXBG Neighbors Podcast, where we share the stories of our favorite local brands. I have a special guest joining me today. We've got Chris Allen joining us. He is the executive director of Fredericksburg Main Street. Chris, welcome to the podcast.

Speaker 2 0:30

Hi, thank you so much for having me.

Speaker 0:32

I'm excited to dive in and learn more about Fredericksburg Main Street and what all you do. So let's start there. Share

The Mission Behind Downtown Growth

Speaker 0:41

with us a little bit about Fredericksburg Main Street, its goals, and kind of the role within our community.

Speaker 2 0:48

Sure. So Fredericksburg Main Street is a 501 nonprofit. And we operate within the boundaries of the historic district of downtown. So our whole mission of our organization is around creating a thriving downtown. And that looks like events. Probably our best known one is the Sippenstroll of First Friday. We started that in 2021. But we also do beyond events, we have beautification projects like The Planters Downtown, the Hercamp Park Love Scrub in partnership with Chip Taylor. And we also work with our small businesses on education series, networking events, and things like that. So it's really kind of a holistic approach to creating a thriving downtown.

Speaker 1:39

It's so interesting because I didn't realize until the past probably year that a lot of these events are planned by you all and not by the city. So

Partnering With The City

Speaker 1:50

talk to me a little bit about how you work with the city. And then, of course, there's different departments with the city. So kind of give us an overview of how all of that works together.

Speaker 2 2:02

Yeah, and that's like definitely a misconception that a lot of people have because you see these cool events and you just go, oh, that's so great that our city is doing that. Um, but we do work very closely with the city. My office is actually in the visitor center. Um and we work with economic development uh and tourism. We work with the EDA very closely. Um, and really that's because our, like I said, our our area is just the historic district of downtown where they have the entire city they have to work with. Um so I'm special. I only have a very small area that I have to work with. But a lot of the events that we do are in partnership. For example, like we host with economic development the tree lighting every year at Riverfront Park. And so we received the grant that purchased the 30-foot Christmas tree in Riverfront Park and all the lights that go on the buildings now during the holiday season. And we're slowly expanding that every year, but that's all been done in partnership with EDT.

Speaker 3:02

Okay, thank you for clearing that up for me. I appreciate it.

How Funding And Sponsorships Work

Speaker 3:06

And so you mentioned uh a grant. So talk to me about how you're funded and how the community and businesses can help.

Speaker 2 3:16

Sure. So because we're a nonprofit, the bulk of our funding does come through grant funds or our own fundraising efforts. Um, we do receive a very small portion of our budget from the city. We are in the city's annual budget every year, but again, that's just a very small portion of our budget. Um, so community members, residents, business owners, they can uh donate right on our website to our organization or um can sponsor our events. So we just had the flower crawl uh last weekend, which was a hugely successful event. This year we added the festival in Market Square that went along with it. Um, and all of our events like that have sponsorship opportunities.

Speaker 3:58

Amazing. And by receiving sponsors, then you're able to put on even more great events, which helps the you know, the local business owners and the economy of that area downtown. I love it.

Speaker 2 4:10

Exactly. Yeah.

Summer Nights And Upcoming Events

Speaker 4:12

So what are some events coming up that you're excited about?

Speaker 2 4:18

So kicking off on Thursday, June 4th, we are launching our downtown summer nights, which is a weekly series. Um, and it's it's an open late campaign. We're we're trying to get businesses, especially retailers, to stay open later. We have quite a bit of foot traffic downtown after 5 p.m. Um, and so it's really kind of geared towards that dinner crowd and still lingering downtown shopping and all of that. So uh we will be activating downtown with live music on the street corners, kind of like Street Busker style. Um, and also like giant yard games throughout the sidewalks and just fun little moments uh throughout downtown that people can partake in, whether they're waiting for their dinner reservation or they're in between dinner walking to get an ice cream cone, you know, something along those lines, and they can kind of enjoy downtown a little bit more. So that's this summer. It's actually June, July, and August.

Speaker 5:19

That's a lot of fun. So is it gonna be a weekly thing, a monthly thing? What's the yep?

Speaker 2 5:24

So it's actually every Thursday. So it'll be every Thursday. Okay. Yep, yep. So it's our our only weekly series that we do. Um, but that's kind of our most up and coming thing.

Speaker 5:36

That's exciting. I love it. I love it.

Misconceptions And A Fall Festival Sneak Peek

Speaker 5:39

So you mentioned uh one misconception already. So are there any other myths or misconceptions that you want to dispel?

Speaker 2 5:49

Um, well, I mean, I think the biggest one is obviously that differentiation between what we do versus what the city does, but also um our funding. You know, a lot of people don't realize that we don't get all of our money from the city and that we do actually have to go out and fundraise and seek sponsorships, donations, and all of those types of things. So because we're independent of the city, we still have to operate just like a normal nonprofit does.

Speaker 6:18

Gotcha. Okay, thank you for clearing that up. So your job sounds like so much fun. What is your favorite thing about what you do?

Speaker 2 6:30

Oh, that's a good question. Um, honestly, I think I think my favorite thing about the job is getting to not only network with our downtown business owners and talk with them and kind of hear, you know, anecdotally what they're going through as business owners, ways that we can help, but also meeting community members. Um a lot of people, like when I'm walking around downtown, they have no idea who I am, right? So, but seeing them participating in our events, doing the cookie crawl or the flower crawl um and things like that, and just hearing them kind of ooh and ah over what's happening is is probably the best part because uh I like to hear, you know, that feedback, but they're not actually giving me feedback. I'm just hearing them talk on the sidewalk.

Speaker 7:17

Yeah, I bet that is a lot of fun. Seeing the reactions of something you've created has to be very rewarding for you.

Speaker 2 7:24

Yeah, it's it's cool.

Speaker 7:27

So, are there any plans on the rise that you can share with us, like any any future, you know, things that are in the works that you can give us a sneak peek over?

Speaker 2 7:39

Ooh. Um, so we are uh we're working on a downtown fall festival this year. Um don't have a date yet. I'm thinking probably late October, um, maybe the weekend before Halloween. Um and kind of really that quintessential like Hallmark movie fall festival. So um it's something that we've been talking about for a few years. And I think this is the year that we'll finally pull it off.

Speaker 8:12

Amazing. I love our little Hallmark town, and what you all are doing just makes it even more special and makes it much more of a destination. So I know not only the business owners love what you do, but the community as well.

Speaker 2 8:29

Thank you.

Speaker 8:31

So what is something that we haven't talked about yet, maybe that you wish the listeners knew about Fredericksburg Main Street?

Beautification, Placemaking, And Where To Follow

Speaker 2 8:40

Oh, I think I you know, I think it would be what we do as an the work that we do as an organization beyond just the events. Um people love our events, and that's it's a great reason to come downtown. But a lot of what we do as well, like the beautification projects and other uh placemaking things, are really to just kind of make downtown an environment that people want to come and hang out and maybe you know grab a cup of coffee, walk around. That doesn't mean you have to go shopping door to door, but just enjoy being, you know, in our downtown. And that's that's a huge part of what we do is kind of creating that space for our community.

Speaker 9:21

Amazing. Amazing. So if the listeners want to learn more about what you do, check out events, or connect with you, where can they find you?

Speaker 2 9:31

So you can find us on our website, uh Fredericksburgmain street.org. I know it's very long, but it's um, or on uh TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook. Our our handle is at Fred Main Street.

Speaker 9:46

Amazing. Chris, thank you so much for joining me on the podcast and sharing Fredericksburg Main Street with us.

Speaker 2 9:53

Thank you so much for having me today.

Speaker 1 9:56

Thank you for listening to the Fredericksburg Neighbors Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to FXBg NeighborsPodcast.com.