Tomorrow, Oct. 9, is the first 2nd Friday in Lafayette, according to the city's October arts newsletter. It's a new monthly series that keeps Old Town busy from October through April, the months when the city's Art Night Out series is off. The city didn't start it. Two Old Town business owners did: Suzanne Connolly-Howes of pARTiculars Art Gallery and Lynn Wooton, an artist at Kaleidoscope Art Collective. The Lafayette Downtown Development Authority paid for the logo, brand guidelines and marketing toolkit.

Because the shops run it, the night works differently from Art Night Out. In a June 8 memo to the DDA, Executive Director Brigid Keating explained that the program asks businesses to host "their own small-scale events or promotions on the second Friday of each month." The Old Town Lafayette 2nd Friday page describes the idea in one line: "promote the great things you're already doing and give people a reason to stop by."

That means no closed street, no main stage and no single start time. Each business sets its own hours and offer. On Oct. 9 the first event starts at 10 a.m., the last ones end at 10 p.m., and the hosts are spread from the 200 block of North Public Road to the 900 block of South Public Road. Seeing more than one or two stops takes some planning.

The first night, in order by start time

The schedule below comes from the Old Town Lafayette events calendar, the city's October arts newsletter and the businesses' own event pages. Organizers haven't published a complete list of participants, so other shops may join without listing anything.

1. 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., Vintrey Honest Goods at 107.5 S. Public Rd. 10% off Vintrey-brand goods, sold inside Foxglove.
2. 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., Silver Peak Jewelry Arts at 100 E. Cleveland St. A free metal-stamping demonstration, plus $5 charms.
3. 2 to 10 p.m., Romero's K9 Club & Tap House at 985 S. Public Road. The Freshy Friday beer release.
4. 3 to 10 p.m., Foxglove Bar and Hideout at 107.5 S. Public Rd. $10 select cocktails.
5. 4 to 6 p.m., The Little Herbal Apothecary at 210 S. Public Rd. An artist reception for Grey Grimm, who is showing work there this month.
6. 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., The Collective Community Arts Center at 201 N. Public Road. A free Paper Catrina workshop led by local crafter Martha Ramírez. It's taught mostly in Spanish, and you can request interpretation by emailing the arts department.
7. From 4:30 p.m., pARTiculars Gallery at 401 S. Public Road. An opening reception for book and journal artist Jeff Becker and oil and encaustic painter Jeanne Hougen, along with the gallery's 6 x 6 Community Show. The two sources list different hours. The city newsletter says the reception, which the gallery calls Art Night In, runs until 8:30 p.m. The 6 x 6 event listing says 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., with awards at 6. To catch the awards, be there by 6.
8. All day, hours not posted, The Read Queen Bookstore & Cafe at 129 N. Harrison Ave. Buy-one-get-one Lafayeti Lattes.

Most of the overlap falls between 4 and 6:30 p.m., when three receptions or workshops are happening at once. The Collective sits on the north end, while the Apothecary and pARTiculars are on South Public. The bar specials run until 10 p.m., so you can start with art and finish with drinks, but you can't get to every afternoon event.

The north end has dinner and a pending bookstore move

At the north end of the route, the Catrina workshop is the first event in a longer program. The Collective's Día de los Muertos exhibit, "Arches and Portals," runs Sept. 24 through Nov. 8. It features work by Arlette Lucero, Jamie Chihuan, Jesus Salas, Michelle Sepulveda, Lida Penkova, and students from Centaurus and Justice high schools, along with community ofrendas that anyone can add to. The Collective's events continue after Oct. 9:

• Friday, Oct. 23, 10:30 to 11:30 a.m.: a Día de los Muertos storytime with Lafayette Public Library staff, followed by an art activity at 11.
• Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 24 and 25: a drop-in session to decorate a picture frame for a home ofrenda, while supplies last.
• Friday, Oct. 30, 3 to 7 p.m.: the exhibit's closing celebration, with face painting, music, and light Mexican food.

Two doors up, at 211 N. Public Road, is Remi's Cajun Creole Cafe, which opened this summer. Axios Boulder reported that the 60-seat restaurant is owned by Dara Sanchez-Mack, who has 15 years in hospitality. Colorado native Napoleon Lewis runs the kitchen. The menu includes gumbo, jambalaya, crawfish étouffée, po'boys, muffulettas, New Orleans BBQ shrimp and the catfish Pontchartrain. Remi's is open 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Thursday through Monday and closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Every second Friday from now through April falls on a day it's open. After the Catrina workshop ends at 6:30, it's the closest dinner option.

Across the street, at Public Road and Geneseo Street, is the vacant city-owned former Chase Bank at 200 N. Public Road. The Read Queen wants to move there. According to the Daily Camera, the city got three proposals for the building, which is nearly 9,000 square feet and was listed at $1.6 million. In a public survey with about 1,800 responses, residents gave The Read Queen's proposal the most support. City Council then authorized staff to begin negotiations. Co-owner Deirdre Appelhans told the paper why Public Road matters to them:

"It took a good two-plus years to really get established because we were off the beaten path. We weren't on Public, and honestly it's been one of our dreams to be on Public since the day we opened."

The move isn't decided yet. The city's Lafayette Listens project page says staff and the bookstore were negotiating and expected to bring a purchase and sale agreement back to Council "this fall." As of Oct. 8, we haven't found a public record of Council approving one, and $1.6 million was the listing price, not an agreed price. For now, The Read Queen's 2nd Friday lattes are still being served on Harrison Avenue.

One night a month, seven times

2nd Friday is a season, not a single weekend. If it keeps to the second Friday of each month from October through April, the dates are:

Organizers have only published events for October so far. The DDA memo calls October 2026 the series' first season, and how many businesses join will probably change from month to month, since each one decides for itself. Checking the events calendar the week before each date is the best way to see who's taking part.

There's more in Old Town and around town later this month. The library's See & Respond! exhibit, with 70 works responding to the Art on the Street sculptures, is up through Nov. 1. Its awards reception is Saturday, Oct. 17, from 6 to 8:30 p.m., and you can vote for the People's Choice sculpture there. The city's Lafayette After Dark star party is at Flagg Park on Friday, Oct. 23, from 6 to 8 p.m. On Saturday, Oct. 31, the Real Farmers Market's Lafayette Fall Harvest Festival runs from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 119 N. Harrison Ave., a short walk from The Read Queen. It will have a pumpkin patch, a pet costume parade, a petting zoo and live music. The market's own festival page still shows "Saturday, October 31, 2025." The Eventbrite listing gives Saturday, Oct. 31 without a year. Oct. 31 falls on a Saturday this year, so that listing matches the 2026 calendar.

The best place to start tomorrow is the 4:30 p.m. Catrina workshop at The Collective, with dinner at Remi's two doors up afterward.

At the Patrick Brown Group, we follow how Old Town buildings like 200 N. Public Road get reused, because those decisions shape what Lafayette's main street becomes. If you own property near Public Road and want to talk about what these changes mean for it, schedule a consultation with our team.