Visitors to the Ingersoll LIVE! block party look on as the "Junebugs" get ready to start a new song on the east stage. The event featured two live music stages, along with drink and food vendors.
(Des Moines, IA) -- The 20th annual Ingersoll LIVE! block party returned to just west of downtown Saturday, this year moving east to the 2300 block of Ingersoll Avenue. Two live music stages were present, along with several food, craft, and organizational vendors.
Kathy Fehrman, with the Oak Park Restaurant, located on Ingersoll further west of the event, says this year's turnout was very good.
"It's always fun, I mean they open with the Isiserettes, which gets everybody excited, and with a lot of great music," Fehrman said. "We built the restaurant because we love this corridor, and we believe in it, and we see a really bright future for it."
Organizer Lauren Kollauf, executive director of Avenues of Ingersoll & Grand, says it all started years ago in a parking lot with a budget of just $7,000. She says the block party is a great way to showcase millions of dollars intended to revitalize the district.
"If you're on Ingersoll Avenue, you can see that," Kollauf said, "you see the investment in the streetscaping, in the private businesses that have come on, and all the cool businesses that has attracted."
Kollauf also says this year's new location provides a better view of the downtown skyline.