Frank McKenna via unsplash.com
Crosstown Concourse celebrates the end of summer with its first Crosstown Splashdown event this Saturday, August 31st.
“This event was inspired by our 901 Day celebration last year, which was a huge success. We had over 3,000 people come down,” says Caitlin Hassinger, marketing manager for Crosstown Arts & Crosstown Concourse. “But, as you know, 901 Day is something that already kind of existed in Memphis and is already celebrated in a lot of ways. And we're still very young –– we opened in August 2017. We're trying to really establish our own traditions as we grow up. So we thought, it's still on Labor Day weekend. It's still when everyone's in the mood to celebrate Memphis, but let's do it a day before and really call it an end-of-summer party.”
Children and families will feel like they’re on a beach vacation while having the opportunity to frolic around in sprinklers and fountains all over the plaza, play in sandboxes, and enjoy free snow cones. People dressed as sea creatures (mermaids and jellyfish on stilts) will float around the venue, while live performances by local entertainer Tiger City DJ and yacht rock band The Love Boat will set the tone.
“It’s almost like a block party,” says Hassinger. “It's been an awesome summer, and we've had so many events and had such a great time. We wanted to invite everybody back one last time before the tone of everything changes. We have more free community events planned for later this year, but it's never going to be quite the same as summer fun.”