DOWNTOWN DOINGS

The Downtown Community Partnership is committed to providing quality events in order to highlight downtown Fargo-Moorhead.

Words by Paul Hankel Photography provided by Downtown Community Partnership

The summer months are a busy time in Downtown Fargo and Moorhead. Warm weather means heavy foot traffic for local businesses and weekly community events. Area Woman caught up with Sam Olson of the Downtown Community Partnership to chat about the events that the group currently oversees and what new and exciting happenings are planned for the future.

What is the Downtown Community Partnership?

The Downtown Community Partnership (DCP) is a non-profit development group that consists of a board of 18 voting members including business and property owners and city representatives. The DCP is headed by Doug Anderson of Swanson Health Products, and has an office located in the heart of downtown Fargo.

What does the Downtown Community Partnership do?

The goal of the DCP is to promote the downtown districts of Fargo and Moorhead as vibrant, exciting and progressive areas of urban development. The DCP currently coordinates and manages many of the downtown events that Fargo-Moorhead patrons frequent throughout the year.

The DCP has also played a major role in the initiation of several large projects including the adoption of the North Dakota Renaissance Zone, the Railway Quiet Zone and other large major initiatives. While these large projects have had a major impact on life downtown, the core of what the DCP does lies in its daily mission of promoting anything and everything downtown.

What events does the Downtown Community Partnership curate?

The Downtown Community Partnership oversees a wide variety of events, all of which highlight the vibrant arts, craft and retail climate downtown. Some of these events include:

Cocoa and Coffee Crawl

Ladies’ Night Out

Corks & Canvas Art and Wine Walks

Kegs & Canvas Ale and Art Walk

Holiday Shopping is Fun Again

Downtown Fargo Street Fair

Holiday Lights Parade

As the downtown areas of Fargo-Moorhead continue to flourish and experience exponential growth, so too will the role that the DCP plays. The group hopes to continue providing eclectic downtown activities and services. New for 2016, the DCP will be hosting several new events including the first ever Whine about Winter, Sweet Treat Stroll and VIP Night events that will take place during the fall and winter of 2016. They also plan on revamping their Holiday Shopping is Fun Again event.

Serving as the mouthpiece for downtown art, culture and living, the Downtown Community Partnership has a large and very important mandate.

As the downtown areas of Fargo and Moorhead seek to attract more and more patrons who will not only shop and spend time downtown but also live downtown, the role the DCP plays will only increase. With the increase of the number of students and residents moving to the downtown area, the pressure is on for Sam Olson and the DCP to continue providing quality events for the community to engage and participate in. It’s a challenging yet exciting task which Olson is confident that the DCP is up for.

For more information on the Downtown Community Partnership, its community involvement and the events it oversees, visit downtownfargo.com.