Matt Harrelson
ROCKINGHAM - Merchants, artists, exhibitors, children's activities and live music will be hitting the sidewalks Thursday evening, June 14th, when Affair On The Square comes to downtown Rockingham after being rained out three weeks ago. From 5 to 8 p.m., restaurants and local artists will come together to show the artistic abilities of those in the Sandhills area and bring people to the downtown venue at the same time.
"It is an evening social sidewalk event in downtown Rockingham," said Sharon Nichols, member of the event planning board for the Rockingham Downtown Corporation. "The restaurants will be giving dinner specials and there will be live music. The idea is we want to invite them to have dinner at Hudson Brothers or Henry's or Pattan's and then stroll down the sidewalk to another place for dessert or drinks. And in between Pattan's and Hudson Brothers, all along the sidewalk, there will be artists and exhibitors with stuff for them to do and see."
Nichols added some off the "stuff" to see will be jewelry, wood working, crafts, candles, face painting, greenhouse plants and wine, among many other items and entertaining options.
"It wiill extend around the square, because if you start at Pattan's and Discovery Place Kids, then you walk up Washington Street, you get to the square and you have to hang that loop there to get to Hudson Brothers. So it goes around the square. And there will be people in the square as well."
The main attraction on Harrington Square for the evening will be the band “Dark Horse” - who will play throughout the night - as well as other bands in different locations. All three restaurants will have live music for the night to supplement the entertainment on the Square itself.
The Affair on the Square, which is sponsored by the Rockingham Downtown Corporation, was the product of the event committee's brainstorm back in 2016, according to RDC member and former president Susan Kelly.
"It's another festival in the spring that can bring some life to the downtown businesses," she said.
There are currently 17 merchants, Nichols said, and all participating will have drawings for gift certificates or merchandise.
Program maps will be printed and handed out on Thursday at all three eateries and participating stores to aid event-goers to navigate the various options. Discovery Place Kids will be open and hosting children's activities. Participating businesses include Hudson Brothers Deli, Helms Jewelers, Rockingham Fitness, and Willow Tree Antiques, all of whom will remain open to the public through the duration of the festival.
"All of the participating merchants will have drawings in their stores for a gift certificate worth $25 or more," Nichols said. "Even if you don't want to shop Helms Jewelers, you should go in and register to win a gift certificate. So there's a reason to stop at all the shops, and we'll have balloons marking all the stops so people will know where they're going."
In the beginning, the events committee decided to host the sidewalk event on a weeknight instead of during the weekend and with good reason - more people are in town during the week.
"We're not trying to compete with weekend activities. It's an evening out," Nichols said. "This time of year there's college graduation, parents are picking up their kids from school and bringing them home or going to the beach or doing whatever. The idea was to bring some foot traffic to downtown Rockingham on a weeknight."
The Affair on the Square is intended for Richmond County residents as well as the surrounding communities, Nichols said that, now in its third year, Affair coordinators are hoping to keep this tradition going and expand on into the future.
"It's not just something to do - it's something to start," she went on to say. "It's not really a street festival. It's more of a sidewalk festival. We're not stopping traffic so it's not going to
be shut down. It's just a sidewalk stroll and shop and look and see and come to downtown Rockingham."
The event is open to the public, and admission is free.
