CHAMPAIGN — The City of Champaign is encouraging people to kick off the summer season and support the local community with The Beat in downtown Champaign.
The Beat started last summer as a block party event to promote community engagement, local businesses, and create a space for people to enjoy all that the downtown area has to offer.
IPM Morning Edition host Kimberly Schofield sat down with Derrick Braun and Tracy Parsons, who both work for the City of Champaign and are on the production team for The Beat, which kicks off on Saturday, May 31.
This interview has been edited for clarity and conciseness.
KIMBERLY SCHOFIELD: Derrick and Tracy, thank you both for joining me this morning. The Beat is coming back. Tell me what’s new about The Beat this summer.
TRACY PARSONS: Well, this is year two. Fantastic pilot last year. We’ve made some adjustments for year two. It’s exciting. We’ve made changes and we’re ready to roll.
DERRICK BRAUN: That’s true. We toned it down a little bit. We had 22 shows, 22 beats, if you will, last year.
SCHOFIELD: Yeah, it was kicking.
BRAUN: It was kicking. It was a good time. But, you know, we had to scale things back a little bit. We’re going to do eight special Saturdays this summer, starting off pretty soon. Right around the corner.
SCHOFIELD: Yeah, the 31st.
BRAUN: 31st of May, yes.
SCHOFIELD: The first and last Saturdays of each month.
BRAUN: Yes.
SCHOFIELD: I think that’s easy to remember.
BRAUN: That’s what we’re kind of going for.
PARSONS: You know, when you think about two Saturdays a month, how’s the best way to put that together, to make it easy to remember? So the last and the first.
SCHOFIELD: Yeah, you celebrate at the start and you celebrate at the end for multiple months.
PARSONS: Yeah, it sounds real cool.
SCHOFIELD: Who are some of the bands and what type of genres will be featured?
BRAUN: Well, we’re starting off with [Dexter O’Neal and The Funk Yard and DJ Rico Mash]. So, we’ve got a lot of local artists or from the region. We got some R&B, soul…
PARSON: We’re going to do reggae.
BRAUN: We’re doing a reggae night.
PARSONS: Latin night.
SCHOFIELD: Ooh, it’s going to be hot.
BRAUN: Yeah, it’s very it’s very dance-focused. It’s get up on your feet, street party vibes.
SCHOFIELD: Excellent. I’m looking forward to it. I love grooving. I love dancing in the street.
PARSONS: Well, we’ve got a theme this year or a focus, right? So each week we’ll start off with live music and a band and then it will be followed with a DJ.
SCHOFIELD: Nice. You’re gonna catch me in all the pictures out there. Who can attend The Beat? Who is it open to?
BRAUN: It is 21 and up. That’s really the only thing so bring your IDs, everyone. I should put this out there. We do have allowable things, and and things that you can’t bring in. So make sure you check our website to know exactly what you can and cannot bring. But basically, we’re asking everyone to put stuff into clear bags.
SCHOFIELD: Yeah, like like at concerts and sporting events.
BRAUN: Exactly. We’re moving towards that model. It just makes it easier to go through our security checkpoints. You can’t bring coolers in, but you can bring lawn chairs. If you want to — I know I said it’s, you know, get up on your feet and dance, but some people, if they want to chill and bring their chairs, are more than welcome to bring their chairs.
SCHOFIELD: Nice, little cozy time. Will there be food vendors?
PARSONS: Yeah, we’ll have a food truck out each week.
BRAUN: Mobile bar stations.
PARSONS: Yeah, mobile bar stations.
SCHOFIELD: And there [are] bars that have windows down Market Street also too, that’ll be accessible for people?
BRAUN: Yes, we have partnered with Seven Saints and Pour Brothers. So they will have those mobile bars set up just outside their establishments. And then we have another bar station which has a rotation of different downtown bars that will be doing like a takeover.
PARSONS: A couple of things … we’ve changed the location of the stage this year. So, we’re going to be on the north end of the street facing south, so that’ll be a little different, and we’re ending at midnight this year. Last year, we went till 1:00 and created this really late late-night vibe that, you know, it’s too late for me. We’re going to end at midnight, and then give our patrons a chance to to visit and go to the establishments downtown that are open late. So we hope to drive that late-night crowd to our downtown existing bars and restaurants.
SCHOFILD: 11:30, I believe, is the cutoff for coming into The Beat, which, as a former bartender, I appreciate a cutoff … there are other places in downtown that you can go and continue to have a good time.
PARSONS: We learned a lot from our initiative last year, and one of that is … when we saw problems or challenges, it was with that really late crowd coming in. So yeah, the 11:30 really is an important time for folks to get there. If you get there any later than that, you’re going to miss everything. You can’t get drinks, everything is closed up, and it can be problematic. So we want everyone to get there at 8 o’clock.
SCHOFIELD: Yeah, right when it starts.
BRAUN: Come see the whole show.
SCHOFIELD: How can listeners stay up to date?
BRAUN: We do have an Instagram account. I’ll be posting regularly about updates of the upcoming shows and @thebeatchampaignil is our Instagram handle. I’ll be using that mostly for posting, but we do have a Facebook page and I’ll be putting these events on there. So follow us on both platforms. And the website will have more comprehensive information. So if you want to know…what can I bring, details like that, that’s thebeatchampaign.com.
PARSONS: We’re just really wanting to create a nice vibe downtown where people are coming down to have fun. Enjoy meeting and mixing and enjoying our downtown. We’ve got a wonderful downtown and we’re really trying to promote that and encourage our community to enjoy what we have.
Illinois Soul is sponsoring five nights of The Beat. This IPM News interview was conducted independently, and organizers did not have an opportunity to review the conversation before publication.