RiverPark's "DownTown Live" continues with Coachella-themed night

Freddie Bourne, Messenger-Inquirer, Owensboro, Ky.
·3 min read

May 20—The second week of the RiverPark Center's 21+ entertainment series "DownTown Live" will continue at 6 p.m on Friday, May 20.

The theme will be "O'Chella," which is a local homage to the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in California.

"I think we're all feeling jealous about folks who are living it up at festivals this summer, so we wanted to bring the festival vibe to (Owensboro)," said Grae Greer, director of marketing and education at the RiverPark Center.

The event will include selfie stations, along with body glitter and paint booths and temporary tattoos offered in the lobby, DJ2Smuve pumping out tunes for attendees in the Truist Plaza and music requests from the Community Jukebox initiative will also continue.

Additionally, the Jody Berry Theatre will have a Silent Disco event throughout the evening and GhostLight Lounge will host karaoke from 8 p.m. to midnight.

The event will also offer free bubbles, glow sticks and more.

Country singer-songwriter and Kentucky native Hayley Payne will be the second featured performer for "DownTown Live" from 6-8 p.m. at the Atmos Courtyard.

Payne's credits include performances at The Listening Room Cafe in Nashville, the Ohio State Fair, the Ferdinand Folk Festival in Ferdinand, Indiana and has also opened five sold-out shows at the Lincoln Amphitheatre in Indiana.

She has also been made a member of the Country Music Association (CMA) and has been coined as "One to Watch" by Nashville Songwriters Association International.

Greer said that the planning of the weekly themes has been a team effort that the staff has worked hard on for the past few months to narrow down the final list.

"We had lots of meetings with staff and a white board. Lots of ideas were thrown around and it was really hard to narrow down to the final 12," Greer said. "We also looked at what other bars were doing and events were happening at the same time and did our best to not conflict. ...There were lots of killer ideas that didn't make the cut, so I'm excited to see if we throw them into the mix for next year."

While the event will occur on Fridays until August, Greer said the event will take a pause for the weekend of ROMP Fest that will occur June 22-25.

After the debut of the series last week, Greer said she was content with how it all came together and looks forward to hopefully seeing a greater crowd making their way to this week's event.

"I'm more than happy with how it turned out. We had an enthusiastic crowd," Greer said. "...We have more going on this Friday than we did last week. With the (Bar-B-Q Block Party) we knew less was more. ...This theme has been the one I've been most looking forward to. I'm ready to throw on some glitter and dance the night away!"

For more information, visit riverparkcenter.org/downtown live or facebook.com/River ParkCenter.