August 9th, 2022 by WCBC Radio

After a hiatus of several years, the Friday After Five series returned to downtown Cumberland last month and proved a tremendous hit with large crowds packing the mall and filling up businesses. That success led to scheduling bands for August, September and October. It begs the question why the Downtown Development Commission made the decision years ago to end the popular events. Sandra Saville, who served as Chair of the DDC when the series was ended, tells WCBC News that there were a number of reasons, but  primarily it was due to  dwindling crowd numbers. At the time there were weekly Friday concerts- and while the initial response was overwhelming- ultimately attendance began to steadily decline…

The hope is that by holding the series just once a month, combined with more of an emphasis on local bands, attendance will increase to earlier levels. Ms Saville says the Friday After Five series will have to relocate next year, as it is anticipated that construction will be underway on the downtown mall…

The next Friday After Five is this Friday, August 12^th featuring the Travis Minnick Band