BRADENTON BEACH – Art, crafts, food and live music are just some of the things that make the free Thursdays in Paradise a great event for anyone visiting historic Bridge Street on a Thursday evening.
The weekly event features late closing hours for area retail shops and a laid-back vibe that will put visitors and locals alike in an island state of mind.
“There’re 25 local artists, maybe more, who feature their work in here,” Coring Finnie said of Cove Gallery and Boutique on Bridge Street, one of the retail stops open late during the weekly event. Finnie is one of the gallery’s staff and featured artists. “The ones who are really local work in the shop behind the counter and stuff.”
Cove is just one of the many shops that participate in Thursdays in Paradise. Other participants include the Back Alley, Sea-renity Beach Spa and Bou-Tiki, Bridge Street Interiors, Island Donut Company, The Fudge Factory and more.
Thursdays in Paradise also features live music with something everyone can tap their feet to.
“We rotate every week,” musician Luke Andrews said. “I used to do it every Thursday for a year solid, but they wanted to bring in new people, so I got some friends that come.”
“Tonight is Zack’s night, but I like to get up and play with him; he used to stop by and play with me,” Andrews said of fellow musician Zack Lieb. “It’s great to have him here.”
Andrews organizes and books the musicians who play Thursdays in Paradise, playing about once a month himself. He says one of their favorite things to do is invite children to join them and play a set of bongo drums. He added that they always have a couple of drums ready. On Aug. 25, Quinn Gersch, who was watching the show with her father, jammed for an entire song, keeping the beat with the onstage musicians.
“We had no idea this was going on,” Tiffani Smith said. Smith commented that she and her family stumbled across the event while on a tour of Anna Maria Island. “It really is a beautiful place, and this street is really cool.”
Thursdays in Paradise takes place every week from 5 p.m. to at least 8 p.m.
