New Oak Park business initiative harnesses Fourth festivities for First Fridays

Chicago Tribune

07-07-2025

A new initiative intended to spur interest in less-well known shopping areas around Oak Park and River Forest coincided Friday with Independence Day.
First Fridays, a brainchild of the Oak Park-River Forest Chamber of Commerce, is intended to celebrate communities outside the major hubs in the communities and show off what treasures neighborhoods have been keeping secret.
The first one launched July 4 at Chicago Austin with a brass band, a bounce house and ice cream after Oak Park's Independence Day Parade and a brief rainstorm. The city blocked off Chicago Avenue between Lombard and Humphrey avenues, as throngs of visitors strolled the streets, and local store owners marveled at the crowds that were unusual for the area.
'I think it's something that I've been wanting for the last eight years I've been here,' said Jimmie Wallace, the owner of Demiurge Clothing at 116 Chicago Ave.
Wallace said he's been a longtime community booster but his neighborhood has been slow to get much action. The July 4 celebration made the street come alive, he said.
'I'm seeing community,' he said. 'I'm seeing people out in the street enjoying themselves and there's positive energy.'
Visitors, too, loved it.
'We live in the neighborhood and we heard about it and it's a great way to get the energy out with this slate of kiddos,' said Angie Gaffney, with her daughter in tow, along with neighbors and their three kids.
Along Chicago Avenue, kids waited for cotton candy and face painting and, down the street from Wallace, adults stood in a line out the door to get a cup of coffee from Daly Bagel. The scene is exactly what event organizers had in mind.
'We wanted to give attention to the business districts beyond the ones everyone knows,' explained Mark Walden, the programming manager for the chamber. He said the Oak Park area has 12 different districts — some of them are already well known and others have their own organizations that host their own shopping events and festivals. The First Fridays events — held the first Friday of July, August, September and October — will highlight the others.
Those events will be Aug. 1 at Madison Street, Sept. 5 at Southtown and Oct. 3 at Pleasant District. While the July event was held during the day due to the holiday, future First Fridays will take place in the evening.
Melissa Mallison, the chamber's director of programming and membership, said businesses throughout the districts welcome the prospect of boosted visibility.
'People are delighted,' she said. 'The businesses we talked to were thrilled to get the foot traffic. And it's all areas that don't have an organized arts alliance.'
Information is at www.firstfridaysoakpark.org/.