Ainsley Cornelius, 5, and dad Justin, of Arley, play a little cornhole at 2nd Fridays in June 2021.

Kicking off the summer season, 2nd Fridays returns Friday, June 10.

As one of the Cullman Area Chamber of Commerce’s most highly anticipated events of the year, the seasonal closure of a section of First Avenue has become one of the many benchmark festivities in the community.

“We’ve had people approach us as early as New Year’s asking when it’s coming back,” said Keith Varden, director of event operations.

This year the CAC aims not to disappoint. Working closely with city officials and members of both the Downtown Merchants Association and Cullman City Parks, Recreation and Sports Tourism, the monthly festival has grown both in size and accommodations.

While in the past the event was confined to mostly the downtown warehouse district and adjacent Festhalle, this year First Avenue will have food, rides, vendors and live music extended to The Busy Bee Cafe.

“We’ve really worked hard to bring everyone together,” Varden says “We have a lot of great sponsors this year, and the more buy-in there is from businesses — it allows us to do more.”

A pair of main stages positioned at opposite ends of the festival — one in the Festhalle parking lot and one in the parking lot across from Moe’s BBQ — will host Winston Ramble and the Duelin‘ Daltons, an Eagles tribute band.

Members of a local Jeep Club will be attending in addition to the annual antique car show, leaving car enthusiasts no shortage of automotive eye candy at the event.

With the only negative responses the CAC has received for previous years’ events being that people want more 2nd Friday events and in more areas, Varden said the CAC has even bigger plans allotted for next summer.

“We’ve got some exciting ideas for next year to hopefully expand to more areas. You know, we love (the warehouse district) area and we love where we are, but we also represent businesses for the whole county. … Our ultimate goal here (at the CAC) is to open doors for those businesses and give them the best opportunities to be seen,” Varden says.

2nd Fridays will be taking place every second Friday in June, July and August. The June 10 kickoff runs 5-9:30 p.m.