It’s one of the largest free concert series on the Central Coast and for the last 28 years, Concerts in the Plaza has captivated the San Luis Obispo audience.
Packed with people and popular music, the summer concert series is having its busiest year since the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Downtown SLO.
“We're really excited to just keep seeing that growth year over year,” said Maggie Kovach, Downtown SLO Events Manager.
According to Kovach, as of last Friday, a total of 40,000 people have attended the past 10 concerts, with an average of 3,000 to 4,000 people every week.
“We really try to make it a destination for people, whether that's locals or tourists, but also people like to come here because they like to come downtown,” Kovach said.
Businesses like Region wine bar are getting a boost from the crowds that flock to Mission Plaza over the three-month period.
“We have definitely seen an increased sale of glasses [of wine] and then of course for all of the bottle purchases for down below," explained Paige Duncan, Region Events Center Manager.
Region is the wine sponsor this year and saw an opportunity to offer a pre-show happy hour as well as an area for people to come after the concert finishes.
“People don't have to leave downtown or drive somewhere else. They can kind of just like walk right on over here,” Duncan said.
SLO Cider owner Nate Adamski is another partner with the summer concert series whose company reaps the benefits.
“It helps us out a lot during the summer because there is kind of a dip in terms of the Cal Poly kids leaving,” Adamski said.
After almost 30 years of this event, it takes a village. Kovach says that between 30-40 people are responsible for putting on the concert each and every Friday.
All the people who run the beverage stations are volunteers and the people who set up the stage from Bill Gaines Audio start their day at 10:30 a.m., working a full 12-hour day. It’s the collective efforts that create the entertainment.
“It's things like this, the community aspect to what we do here, I think it really just draws people in,” Kovach said.
The summer concert series wraps up next Friday, September 6 with a performance from Dante Marsh and the Vibesetters.
