Downtown Arts Market returns to Jamestown with weekly tastings, concerts

The Downtown Arts Market returns to Hansen Arts Park July 9 through Aug. 27 on a Thursday evening schedule. The free market will bring vendors, live music, food and drinks, and a steady flow of summer foot traffic into downtown Jamestown after work.

Mindi Schmitz, executive director of The Arts Center, said this year’s market will run from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., with live performance time concentrated between 6 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. and one featured performer each week. The format makes the event easier to manage while keeping the focus on local talent and a compact downtown gathering.

The market will take place on the corner of 1st Avenue and 2nd Street in downtown Jamestown, directly across from The Arts Center. Admission is free, and water and public facilities will be available. The event will include artisan vendors, activities for adults and children, and a free concert each week, with support coming in part from corporate sponsorships, grants and personal donations. Organizers are still accepting additional vendors.

Each week, The Arts Center’s chef, Jade Biloff, will prepare a grab-and-go taste item sold for $5. The center’s new culinary kitchen has drawn interest through classes that have ranged from sushi to biscuits and butter to Indian and Thai cooking, and fall planning is underway.

Entertainment will remain mostly local, but the July 16 market will bring in the Frost Fire Players from Walhalla for a preview of Come Fly Away. Schmitz said attendance in 2025 averaged roughly 100 to 200 people coming and going on a typical night.

The Arts Center and the Jamestown Fine Arts Association have used Hansen Arts Park as a public gathering place for years. The association has promoted the arts in Jamestown since 1964, and the Art Park was added in 2008 after a 2005 fire left a burned-out hole downtown.