Dine Out Downtown to return in March

Feb. 25—HANFORD — Dine Out Downtown will be making a comeback this St. Patrick's Day.

Michelle Brown, executive director of Main Street Hanford, said the popular Friday night event, born from the pandemic, will take place with a few modifications this year. Instead of happening every Friday like in 2020, Dine Out Downtown will be every third Friday of the month from 5-10 p.m.

"We found that people loved to come out to dine out Friday nights so much that we decided we wanted to do it with or without the restaurant closures," Brown said. "Even if restaurants are open, we still want to provide that experience of being outside in the street with maybe some live music and just having something unique to do on Fridays."

By the time St. Patrick's Day rolls around, Brown said she expects restaurants to already be allowed to have dine-in. The idea now is for Dine Out Downtown to be another great event for residents and to continue to promote downtown.

"It definitely increased foot traffic downtown, not just for the restaurants but for retail as well," Brown said. "Many businesses stayed open later on those Friday nights and they experienced higher sales and were really happy with the event."

After St. Patrick's Day, which falls on a Wednesday this year, Dine Out Downtown will begin its schedule of every third Friday starting in April and ending in October with Witches Night Out.

Last year, Brown said the event not only helped provide restaurants with a way to stay open, but also gave people a morale boost.

"I think it really just lifted the morale of everybody that came out to those events, whether they were business owners or customers, I think we all needed to be social and have a way to still go out in public and run into friends, and still be able to do that safely.

"We are so grateful that the city allows us to think outside the box and do these types of activities because the best part is to see people smiling and enjoying themselves," Brown said.