Buffalo Place will proudly produce the free outdoor summer series, Thursday & Main, weekly from June 13th through August 8th. The newly re-named series, previously branded as Queen City Social, continues to pay homage to the venerable Buffalo Place-produced summer tradition, Thursday at the Square. Thursday & Main is presented by M&T Bank.

The free and open-to-the-public happy hour, presented on Thursday evenings in the heart of Downtown Buffalo at Fountain Plaza (Main at Chippewa Streets), continues the mission of Thursday at the Square: creating awareness and spin-off business for Downtown restaurants, bars, and retailers.

Thirty two years ago, in 1987, Fountain Plaza hosted the first Thursday at the Park season, produced and managed by Buffalo Place. One year later in 1988, crowds for the happy hour became too large for the space. The series was shifted to Lafayette Square and Thursday at the Square was born. Fountain Plaza was recently renovated by the City of Buffalo as part of the Cars Sharing Main Street Project and is a beautiful public space in Downtown. It provides the perfect setting for this summer’s Thursday & Main series.

To kick off the 2019 season presented by M&T Bank, Buffalo Place is pleased to welcome Willie Nile. Nile, a Buffalo-born singer-songwriter, will bring his electrifying live show to Thursday & Main on June 13th. Nile has toured across the country with The Who, and sung with Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band. Bruce Wojick will open the evening of performance. The series continues in subsequent weeks with popular Buffalo bands including The Tins, The Strictly Hip, Humble Braggers, and more.

August 1st will be a special Thursday & Main evening featuring Canadian rock-n-roll hero, Ron Hawkins of Lowest of the Low. Ron Hawkins holds a special place in Thursday at the Square history, performing with Lowest of the Low several times including the summers of 1993 and 2005. On Thursday, June 30, 2011, Hawkins and crew inaugurated the official move of Thursday at the Square from Lafayette Square to the Buffalo waterfront. The series will run from 5p-8p weekly.

The 2019 Thursday & Main season schedule will feature:

June 13th: Willie Nile with special guest Bruce Wojick

June 20th: The Tins with special guest Zak Ward

June 27th: Humble Braggers with special guest VR Sunset

July 11th: An Evening with Funktional Flow

July 18th: An Evening with The Strictly Hip

July 25th: Eric Van Houten

August 1st: Ron Hawkins (of Lowest of the Low) with special guest Sonny Baker

August 8th: The CPX with special guest TVMTN

(No event on Thursday, July 4, 2019)

Buffalo Place is pleased to be working with Fat Bob’s Smokehouse, Frankie Primo’s +39, and SOHO Burger Bar, who will offer food options for purchase throughout the season.

Buffalo Place was delighted to engage partner agency Crowley Webb to develop the new Thursday & Main brand. Crowley Webb generously provided invaluable branding insights, design recommendations, and creative materials to the initiative. We thank Crowley Webb for their support of Buffalo Place initiatives and Downtown Buffalo.

Thursday & Main is made possible with the generous support of our official sponsor family. The series is presented by M&T Bank and supported by Crowley Webb, Try-It Distributing, and Big Ditch Brewing Company.

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Buffalo Place is the not-for-profit organization dedicated to improving the economic health and quality of life in the Downtown Buffalo business improvement district. The organization strives to manage public and private sector resources to create the best possible environment in which to live, work and play.

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