Are your spidey senses tingling?! We had a Super time at Friday’s Food Truck Friday & Flicks on the Bricks event and we hope you did too!

Photography provided by Dustin Grau Photography & DV Photo Video.

Ever heard of growing pains? Of course, growing pains aren’t always fun, but we hear they lead to some pretty great things!

In order to bring our stormwater infrastructure up to current industry standards, Main Street will be closed to vehicular traffic for three weeks, pending weather conditions starting on June 16.

The roadway will be blocked at the intersection of West Lawrenceville Street and Main Street down to the Main Street entrance to City Hall. The construction zone (Red Zone) will temporarily include the drive aisle that leads from Main Street to the rear parking lot behind Pure/Red Clay/Mathias building, it will cross Main Street and connect to the paver lot construction zone.

For safety reasons, the entire Red Zone will be OFF LIMITS TO PEDESTRIANS.

We’re making the most of those growing pains we mentioned by providing in-street seating, photo ops and occasional live music during the road closure. You know, all those fun community vibes that Duluth is known for!

Be assured that during the closure, full pedestrian access to Town Green and all Downtown businesses will still be available. Please refer to the Yellow Pedestrian Zones on the map that highlight existing paths to Town Green.

Thank you for sticking with us; we promise the new community space being developed in the former paver lot will be worth it.

The dogs of Duluth were out in full force at Fridays-N-Duluth presents Dog Days of Summer on Friday, May 20. Duluth is the place to be on Friday night as food trucks take over Downtown Duluth! Experience exotic flavors in a mobile vending setting with amazing local cuisine while listening to live entertainment on the Festival Center Stage and in Parsons Alley.

Fridays-N-Duluth includes both Food Truck Friday and Block Party on Main Events. Food Truck Fridays will take place on all odd number Fridays and will feature live music, food trucks and vendors. Themed Block Party on Main events will take place on all even-numbered Fridays and will feature food trucked and themed entertainment. Block Party themes will include a Friday Fiesta, Dog Days of Summer, International Night, Bringing Back the 90’s, Caribbean Night, Mardi Gras in July, Lantern Parade and Whimsical Wonderland.

The City of Duluth is happy to announce that the annual Citywide Community Clean-Up Day will be hosted at the Duluth Public Works facility located at 2450 Main Street, Duluth, GA 30097, on Saturday, June 11, from 8:00am-4:00pm. The clean-up day is offered as a free service to our wonderful residents as part of the Duluth Neighborhood Outreach Work Program (N.O.W.).

As an amnesty dump day, we will be accepting the following household items from City residents on this day only:

• Up to 4 car tires
• Leftover paint from your home improvement project
• Debris from your home renovation project (tile, lumber, carpet, sinks, toilets, etc.)
• Vehicle parts and fluids (motor oil, batteries, antifreeze)
• Garden chemicals (pesticides, herbicides, fertilizer, and insecticides)
• Household chemicals (toilet bowl cleaner, shower/tile cleaner, carpet cleaner, rust remover)
• Items stored in your garage or basement (lawnmowers, appliances, grills, furniture, mattress, electronics, cardboard, etc.)
• Yard debris (tree limbs, grass clippings, leaves, etc.)

This year, the City will expand the event to include e-waste recycling and paper shredding.

This free event is only for residents who live within Duluth City Limits:

• All residents must bring a current utility bill and driver’s license to enter the event.
• This event is not open to contractors, builders or other construction trades.
• No commercial materials will be accepted.
• No vehicles larger than a standard-size pick-up truck will be admitted into the event.

For more information and specific restrictions on the 5th Annual Community Clean-Up, please visit www.duluthga.net/DuluthNOW.

BUT WAIT, why wait until June 11?

Did you know…Many household items can be disposed of at your curbside or dropped off at the Public Works facility year-round.

Republic Services (your garbage company) will take mattresses, furniture, appliances and other household items at the curb. You must call Republic Services at 678.963.2800 within 24 hours of your scheduled pick-up day to request this free service. You must also attach a Duluth trash bag to the item.

Duluth residents benefit from having year-round dumpsters located at the Public Works Facility. Throughout the year, residents can dump appliances, sofas, mattresses/foundations, furniture, cardboard, lawnmowers, grills, old clothing, electronics (TV’s, VCR’s, stereo/computer equipment, etc.), vehicle parts and fluids (motor oil, batteries, antifreeze), old children’s toys, tree limbs, grass clippings, leaves, etc. We are even accepting glass as it is no longer taken at the curb with recycling items. We cannot list every item that is accepted here; if you have a question about an item, please call us at 770.476.2454.

What a race! We never could have predicted a win by Red Strike but we hope you had as much fun watching as we did.

Photography provided by DV Photo Video.

The Southeastern Festivals and Events Association (SFEA) recognized the City of Duluth as one of the best in the region for its events and creative efforts over the last year.

On April 26, at the virtual SFEA Kaleidoscope Award show, the City of Duluth was awarded:

The awards were accepted by Events Coordinator Jessica Gross and Senior Marketing Coordinator Talore Ruedt.

The SFEA Kaleidoscope Awards, which recognizes the marketing, programming and overall event, acknowledges the highest level of achievement in the festival and event industry throughout the southeast United States.

The mission of SFEA is to strengthen, educate and unify the festivals and events industry throughout the Southeast.  Comprised of festival and event planners, venues, and industry service providers, SFEA was founded to strengthen the festival and event industry throughout the southeast United States by hosting educational sessions, networking opportunities, award recognition, and additional events throughout the year; thus allowing for continued professional growth within the festivals and events industry.

The 2022 calendar of events has been released and includes many returning favorites and a few new additions. For more information about these and other events visit www.duluthga.net, like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/cityofduluth.

The City of Duluth is excited to announce the 2022 event schedule. As always, this year’s lineup has a little bit of something for everyone including food trucks, concerts, movies and more!

The event season officially kicked off in January with the Duluth Farmers & Artisan Market. In addition to shopping with local vendors on the 2^nd Sunday of the month, each market features live music, themed photos ops and free children’s activities. Community favorite Flicks on the Bricks returns with a free movie under the stars on the first Friday of June, August and September.

Flicks on the Bricks Schedule:

June 3 – Spider-Man: No Way Home (PG-13)

August 5 – Aladdin 2019 (PG)

September 2 – Charlie & the Chocolate Factory (PG)

Fridays-N-Duluth (FND) kicks off April 29 from 6-9pm in Downtown Duluth and runs through September 16. FND includes both Food Truck Friday and Block Party on Main events. Food Truck Fridays will take place on all odd number Fridays and will feature live music, food trucks and vendors. The themed Block Party on Main events will take place on all even numbered Fridays and will feature food trucks and themed entertainment. Block Party themes will include a Friday Fiesta, Dog Days of Summer, International Night, Bringing Back the 90’s, Caribbean Night, Mardi Gras in July, Lantern Parade and Whimsical Wonderland.

Signature events such as Back-to-School Bubblepalooza, Howl on the Green, Deck the Hall and Cookies & Cocoa with Santa will all be back for 2022. Other community favorites returning this year include Duluth Derby Day, Duluth on Tap, Rocky Horror Picture Show and the Duluth Spring Arts Festival.

Duluth’s Art Month will take place in August. Art-centered activities will include Seek Duluth, a community art project, the DFAL Art Walk and more! The FND Block Party on Main Lantern Walk will be the ultimate finale to Art Month on August 26.

The Evolution of Pop will headline the Summer Stage Concert on July 23. Cinema at the Red Clay will continue with a free movie showing the first Thursday of each month, October-December.

We will be bringing the glitz and glam of Las Vegas to Downtown Duluth on June 25 at Viva Las Duluth. The main stage will play host to all your favorite Vegas strip performances including magicians, cirque-style dancers and impersonators.

Pop-up events quickly became a favorite in 2020. Our community can expect this fun trend to continue in 2022 so be sure to follow our social media and be the first to know when a new pop-up is announced.

Facebook: @CityofDuluth

Instagram: @City_of_Duluth

Twitter: @CityofDuluthGA

For more information, on all upcoming events visit www.duluthga.net/events

We are excited to introduce a new Independence Day celebration to the event lineup!

As Duluth continues to grow and change, so do our event offerings. With that in mind, Duluth Celebrates America has come to a bittersweet end. In its place we will be hosting a Kickoff to the 4th on Friday, July 1. This event will include a performance by A-Town A-List, a patriotic stage show (similar to that of Howl on the Green), inflatables and more! Themed photo ops, patriotic decor and our beloved veteran flags will remain on display through the holiday.

Now, we know you’re going to ask “what about the fireworks?” Your safety is always our number one priority and unfortunately, there is no location within Duluth City Limits that would enable us to put on a show that is both safe and up to the standards our community has learned to expect.

Alternative non-viable locations included:

Scott Hudgens Park/River Green – Many remember the years that Duluth Celebrates America was hosted at River Green/Scott Hudgens Park. A large portion of the property that was used for the event was privately owned and has since been sold and developed into a 158,000+ square foot facility. The remaining field space does not allow adequate space for a firework fall out zone, event entertainment and event parking.

Duluth High School – A few weeks back, City Staff hosted a test launch at the High School. A group of 30+ including city staff, Council Members, members of the Downtown Development Authority and Duluth residents were stationed around Downtown Duluth during the test launch. It was determined that visibility would be minimal and restricted to only a very small portion of the entire event space. It should also be noted that due to residential property near the high school, the show would have been restricted to lower-level fireworks only and the maximum show length would have been shorted from 20 minutes down to 14 minutes with a significant budget increase.

Southeastern Railway Museum – While it is in close proximity to the Downtown event location, a launch at the museum would require extensive road and railway closures and could have included the relocation/removal of locomotives on display.

Keep a close eye on our social pages for more details on the exciting Kickoff to the 4th event and we look forward to seeing you there!

For more information on upcoming City of Duluth events, please visit duluthga.net/events.