SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — Friday marks the start of 50 free concerts in downtown Sioux Falls.
Levitt at the Falls opens its fifth season with blues performer Vanessa Collier and local opening act The Shamrockers.
The concerts bring more traffic to some area businesses.
Friday is already one of the busiest nights at nearby Papa Woody’s Wood Fired Pizza.
Add live music to the mix, and the restaurant will likely see even more customers.
“We are expecting a very busy night. Just to compare from last year, a lot of people, especially the first couple concerts, come out to just kind of check it out, so we have a significant influx in business,” Papa Woody’s owner Lisa Esser said.
Esser says preparing for a Levitt night means adding more staff.
“We typically have a lot more staff on during a weekend just for the natural influx, and then for the Levitt concerts, we actually bring on a few extra people as well,” Esser said.
Meanwhile, Intoxibakes owner Shannon Johnson is making sure there will be plenty of sweet treats for sale at her bakery.
“We’ll definitely have multiple flavors of cupcakes that we’re going to have on standby. We usually up our cake pops that we have on hand because those are a really easy grab-and-go treat for people,” Johnson said.
Johnson is expecting to see familiar and new faces tonight.
“People who are going out and listening to music aren’t always the same people who are just out and about in the downtown area,” Johnson said.
“It’s an awesome event to get people downtown that maybe wouldn’t come downtown before or didn’t have a reason,” Esser said.
That’s music to the local business community’s ears.
The concert begins at 7 p.m. Friday.