Swing Music To Slide Through Fifth Street on Friday Night

Walk down Fifth Street in Gilroy any Friday this summer from 7 to 9 p.m. and you will hear anything but silence. Rather, the latest musical act will resonate across the street as part of the 5th annual Fifth Street Live.

This Friday’s act is the upbeat South Bay Swing Band, an event that Out and About magazine hyped up in their latest issue. The public is invited for free, as long as they remember to BYOC (bring your own chair).

“It’s nothing real fancy, just a good, small town, Friday night event,” said Larry Mickartz, one of a handful of locals who wrote the grant to jump start the event through the Gilroy Arts Alliance and Gilroy Downtown Business Association. It now stretches from late June to the end of August every summer.

The music series is sponsored by 15 local businesses and organizations, such as , , and the Gilroy Police Department. Los Pericos Taqueria and Station 55 Bar and Grill donate meals for the band members.

Mickartz, owner of the , often does not have the time on bustling Friday evenings to stay for the whole event. But he sends many of his guests to it, who he says return impressed with the local flavor.

The series culminates on Friday, August 26 with a raffle. People pay $5 a pop, with proceeds going towards the Gilroy Arts Alliance. The grand prize winner receives $100 for dinner for four at the , two rooms and a one night stay at the , and a round of golf for four at .

After this Friday, the remaining acts are rock band The Usual Suspects on August 19 and classic rock band JJ Hawg on August 26.