This unique and rough year has sure surprised all of us. 2020 has been a year of transformations and adapting for Downtown Huntsville. As we wave goodbye, we wanted to take a look back at this extraordinary year and what came out of it in this last edition of the Downtown Explorer for 2020!
As the lockdowns began, we strived to do our best to continue to support downtown businesses and provide activities and events for the community. With physical distancing in mind, DHI made significant changes to some of your favorite annual events.
This year, we offered physically distanced Friday Night Art Walks, presented by
Amanda Howard Sotheby's International Realty, Food Truck All Stars, presented by valleymls.com, Downtown Open Putt Putt, presented by Crunkleton Commercial Real Estate Group, and Tinsel Trail, presented by Facebook! These fan favorite events looked a little different this year, but nonetheless, were just as exciting as years past.
Along with these events, we also created a few new ones for 2020! Our downtown businesses placed their merchandise on the sidewalks of downtown in our Super Saturday Sidewalk Sales. This new event was a great way to enjoy shopping in downtown while remaining outdoors in a fresh air environment.
These changes and new events showcased how adaptable our community, local artist, and small business owners are. We plan on continuing to make downtown safe for 2021!
Staying outdoors was a priority in 2020 and Downtown Huntsville is a perfect place to take advantage of that!
This year, we relaunched our Blue Bikes bike share program powered by Tandem Mobility and sponsored by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama. With 30 bikes across 11 stations its easier than ever to explore our downtown.
We also released a new set of our Explorer Vlogs showcasing some of the best parks around Downtown Huntsville. You can view the full playlist here.
Our 2020 Pop-Up Parks, presented by Redstone Federal Credit Union, were one of the major highlights of this year. All built by construction companies and architectures, these miniature urban parks included dog parks, physically distanced work spots, and many great relaxation locations.
Downtown Huntsville still has so much to offer outdoors including our Secret Art Trail, presented by Polaris Inc., and right outside the downtown core you can explore Monte Sano Mountain hiking, biking, and more.
Downtown's food and retail businesses sure took a hit this year, but they still have been able to adapt to these challenges.
DHI was able to launch a 7 week campaign known as the Super 7 in 2020! We asked the community to nominate and vote on their favorite breakfast items, food truck items, desserts, coffees, and beers within Downtown Huntsville. The results can be viewed here!
Our Craft Coffee and Craft Beer Trails are still an amazing way to get out and explore downtown while enjoying your favorite beverages. We even added a community favorite, Canadian Bakin, to our Craft Coffee Trail this year! In 2021 you can expect more exciting announcements regarding our trails, so stay tuned!
You can learn more about our downtown small businesses by watching our Small Business Profiles here. These short videos showcase what unique things these businesses bring to our Rocket City Center.
Although 2020 forced us further apart, it showed us how close together our community can be. Moving into 2021, lets continue to support our local community and businesses.
If you are looking for ways to enjoy a New Years cocktail safely this year, visit our Facebook or Instagram account! From all of us at Downtown Huntsville, Inc. we hope you have a great New Year!