Looking for a fun way to start off the fall season? The music festival Downtown Sounds is a great way to get into the spirit!
This festival is taking place at Veterans Memorial Park on October 7th in Shelton CT, starting at 12:00pm-6:00pm. There is a rain date on October 8th.
Get into the fall season by enjoying delicious local food trucks, a craft beer and wine garden, handmade artisan vendors, and lots of childrens activities! Live music from The Aplaca Gnomes, Lee-Ann Lovelace Band, Hitch & The Giddyup, and School of Rock will be playing periodically throughout the festival. All of these concerts are free to attend! However to show some generosity, there is a donation center of $10 to sustain Celebrate Sheltons efforts in the community.
Throughout the 9 years of Celebrate Shelton, they have had 52,000 attendees, 250 volunteers, 35 non profit partners, and hundreds of vendors and musical acts that have been involved.
Vendors at the festival:
- AKHOMESIGNS
- Bodhi Tree Gardens
- Brushstrokes_by_tam
- cARTie
- CycleBar Monroe
- Grateful Pawz
- I Want Something Sweet
- It Takes Two Bracelets
- Kismet Boutique
- Nancy Martin
- Oliver & Archer
- Planet Bee Apiary
- Sage and Wisdo Studio
- Scents of Empowerment
- TheCBGGurus
- ThriftEdit
- Tres Naturels
- Wilting Flower Company
Food trucks:
- Proof Pizza
- Reid’s BBQ
- Sweetness Bites
- Szabos Seafood
- The Cinnabomb Mini-Donut Factory
Downtown Sounds is the perfect event to enjoy family fun, music, and getting involved in the community. We hope you attend!
More about Celebrate Shelton:
We began in the Conti Building in 2014 where Glass Source Stained Glass Studio and BringtheHoopla both had shops. Small biz owners, Michael Skrtic & Nicole Heriot-Mikula, saw the potential of this under-used space and the brainstorming began.
In the early planning stages, Jimmy Tickey, Nicole’s brother and a committed public servant in Shelton, aligned with their mission and was eager to assist efforts.
They began with a Plaid Friday and Small Business Saturday Kick-Off highlighting over 50+ local handmade artisans that weekend and with that success, ignited a passion project that continues to grow and expand. From there, Downtown Handmade Market, a monthly maker’s market, was created as well as Downtown Sounds Summer Concerts and Community Tree Lighting. As Nicole & Michael’s businesses evolved and expanded, they moved out of their Celebrate homebase, but their vision expanded as well.
Celebrate Shelton has hosted over 40 events over the past 9 years all with the single intent of bringing together families and promoting engagement in the arts. Our events have created a renaissance in downtown Shelton by bringing in over 45,000 people of families from around the region. This has been extremely positive for many local small businesses, who have benefited greatly from the increased foot traffic and commerce generated by our events. As we navigated through Covid-19, we pivoted quickly and continued to find ways to connect with our community virtually. As we are re-emerging to brighter days, we are bringing 7 event dates to life in 2023.
Celebrate Shelton seeks to provide low-to-no cost events that strengthen the ties within our community, bring together families, and promote cultural enrichment. Our events are family-friendly and inclusive of everyone.
Author: Kirsten
Hi everyone! My name is Kirsten Horlbeck, one of the interns at 203 local. I was born and raised in Norwell, Massachusetts and I spend most of my time on Cape Cod where I'm on the beach 24/7. I decided to pursue my academic career at Fairfield University in CT, where I'm currently studying communications with a minor in psychology. I'm currently a senior graduating in May 2024! I decided to take on this internship at 203 local to enhance my marketing and communication skills and so far it has helped me decide which career path I would like to enter. A few fun facts about me is that I am one of five and have a twin sister! I also have a cat named Milo and two dogs, Jetti and Cash. I have always loved to travel and took that passion abroad where I spent 4 months in Florence, Italy. That experience is one I'll never forget and has taught me so much, I always highly recommend going to everyone here at Fairfield! Alongside traveling, I love to try new things that are out of my comfort zone such as foods i've never had. I'm a huge seafood lover…
