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Date: 9/6/2022
AMHERST – After a two-year hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Amherst Block Party returns for its 10th anniversary on Sept. 15.
From 5 to 9 p.m., North Pleasant Street will be blocked off between Kendrick Park and Main Street, as performers, food vendors and local businesses all gather in downtown Amherst to celebrate the area’s rich and vibrant culture in a joyous end-of-summer festival.
Amherst residents and visitors alike can look forward to an action-packed evening with a wide variety of attractions. The show circus makes its return bigger than ever. Aerial acrobatics, contortionists, stilt walkers, and jugglers are among the performers.
For a spot of interactive recreation, games will be open to all challengers, promising rewards of prizes to the lucky winners. Youthful partiers can also enjoy some slick yo-yo tricks hosted by the YoYo People, get their faces painted by Nikki, and bear witness to a balloon animal or two by Ollie The Clown.
There will be a wide variety of dining options including Arigato’s Sushi, Taste of India, Antonio’s Pizza, Hazel’s Kitchen, Momo Tibetan Restaurant, and The Humble Peach, to name but a few of the local restaurants in attendance. And for the over-21 crowd, a trip to the White Lion Brewery Beer Garden is a must to sample some tasty brews.
Perhaps the biggest attractions will be the live musical performances on the main stage near the top of North Pleasant Street. Two headliners will rock the crowd. Six-time Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Mister G will grace the stage first from 5 to 6 p.m. A graduate of Amherst College, Mister G brings his internationally-renowned style back to the block next to his alma mater after performances at some of the biggest festivals and venues globally. His style combines influences from rock, reggae, salsa and beyond, with a quadrilingual lyricism – English, Spanish, Yiddish and Hebrew – that simultaneously entertains and educates.
At 7 p.m., Soul Magnets will take over until 8:30 p.m.. A nine-piece ensemble based out of Northampton, the Magnets offer their blend of old-school funk and soul to the block party by way of their horn-rich harmony. Their set list will comprise a nice mix of original compositions, and some beloved covers guaranteed to keep the dance floor moving and grooving. Additional entertainment can be found at the open house hosted by The Drake, with performances from local artists from 5 p.m.- 12 a.m.
The party, which usually draws in a crowd of about 5,000 people, was established in 2012. The Amherst Business Improvement District (BID) organizes the event to showcase local talent and businesses in a fun, family-friendly setting. A consolidation of local property owners, the BID is a nonprofit economic development group committed to serving both the town’s residents and businesses, founded so that local property owners (who comprise the organization’s membership) could pool their resources to provide services and programming to improve and highlight local culture. Amherst’s BID was among the first five BID’s in the state of Massachusetts.
While the BID is responsible for the block party’s organization, this year’s event is also sponsored by Amherst Innovative Living (AIL), a local rental property group. BID Executive Director Gabrielle Gould applauded AIL’s contribution to the event and Amherst as a whole.
“Amherst Innovative Living is a large part of our downtown…They’re amazing community members. They were able to come in with a substantial amount of financial support for us to make this really exciting,” she said.
Partiers may recognize AIL’s properties such as Kendrick Place and One East Pleasant as they make their way to and from the party.
Due to the aforementioned hiatus, this will be the first block party since 2019. Social distancing guidelines and concerns over potential COVID-19 spread led to 2020’s and 2021’s parties’ cancellations.
Gould is confident that the event will go smoothly and as planned.
“We’re very excited to be bringing it back. We – like everybody – have been watching numbers and seeing if there have been any spikes, which there have not been… we’re feeling very confident that outdoor events are more than safe, and that people need to get outside and enjoy our community,” she said.
Residents of Amherst and visitors from surrounding areas have waited patiently to rejoin one another through COVID-19, and events like the Amherst Block Party represent a return to not only normalcy, but also to the joys of a community united.