Vine Street headlines July Sunsets on SOMA
WILKES-BARRE — The Sunsets on SOMA Happy Hour Concert Series returned Thursday to Midtown Village on South Main Street for yet another night of adult beverages and live music.
The pop-up event, hosted by Diamond City Partnership, drew a decent crowd despite the heat. Several attendees were lucky enough to snag a table with an umbrella, shielding them from the glare of the sun.
Vine Street, a four-piece original and cover band from Ashley, was this month’s featured musical act.
The free outdoor concert series, now in its third year, has steadily grown in popularity said Shelby Monk, who is the Marketing and Event Coordinator for Diamond City Partnership.
”People wanna be out,” she said. “They want to have a cold beer on a nice summer day.”
Monk explained that there are three magic ingredients to Sunsets on SOMA that keep people coming back month after month: live music, cold drinks, and a place to sit.
“When you have those three main components and you build around that, it works,” said Monk.
The concert series gives people a reason to visit downtown, where they will hopefully take advantage of all of the restaurants and shops that Wilkes-Barre has to offer.
“I think that when you give people a purpose for coming downtown, they’re exposed to all of the different businesses and restaurants that they might not have known even existed,” she said.
This is certainly the case for florist Tiffany Kuhar, who owns Florology Design. Showcasing her business this year at SOMA has lead to some great networking opportunities.
“It’s been fun getting to see a lot of new people, new faces, and make some connections,” she said.
There are still two more opportunities to enjoy Sunsets on SOMA before the end of the season.
Next month’s event on Aug. 17 will feature music from South Side Five, a local Jazz band, which Monk said will serve as promotion for the upcoming Wilkes-Barre Jazz Festival set to take place next May at the F. M. Kirby Center.
Sunsets on SOMA will conclude Sept. 21 and feature live music from Joe Burke and Co.