Reviewed by: Brenna McIntosh
Athens Main Street sets new crowd record for Fridays After Five
Reading time: 3 minutes
Velcro Pygmies, anyone?
This last Friday, July 25, a record-breaking crowd gathered in Downtown Athens for a wildly successful finale of “Fridays After Five.” Keep reading to see what the hype is all about (plus the crowd estimation) for this community-favorite monthly live music installment.
Velcro Pygmies, local businesses + more
“Fridays After Five:” the talk of the town and where you’re guaranteed to run into the mayor, your neighbor, your former teacher and about twenty other people you know.
Once a month from April to July, locals load up their lawn chairs and flock to Downtown Athens for “Fridays After Five” including:
- Live music from a regional band
- Tasty bites from local food trucks + from restaurants
- Extended shopping hours
- Children’s activities
- Tasty drinks (perk: Downtown Athens is a “blue cup” entertainment district)
- Dancing, mingling + lounging
For the finale of the 2025 season, Athens Main Street invited The Velcro Pygmies, a popular high-energy rock group from Louisville founded in 1998.
Record breaking attendance: It’s estimated over 5,000 people attended on Friday night. Director of Athens Main Street Tere Richardson described it as the biggest crowd yet in the history of the event.
- For context, that’s over half the capacity of The Orion Amphitheater!
- This season, the crowd record was previously broken at 3,500+ in April and 4,000+ in June.
During Velcro Pygmies’ set (with impressive charm and crowd work, might I add), they asked people to cheer if they were from Athens, vs if they drove from out of town to watch their free show. The response level was even (shout-out to the out-of-towners who came for a good time!).
More Athens Main Street events this year
If you missed Fridays After Five this year, no need to worry.
Athens Main Street has a variety of fun events on the horizon including:
- Athens Farmer’s Market
- When: 8AM-12PM every Tuesday through September 27
- Athens Culinary Month
- When: August 1-31
- Merchants Alley Happy Hour Music Series
- When: 5:30-7PM every Friday September 5 through October 31
- Sippin’ Cider Festival (my personal favorite)
- When: December 13, 2025
Curious about the recent growth of Athens? See how Athens Main Street is keeping up thanks to volunteers, donations and the visionary director, Tere Richardson.
