Floyd Small Town Summer Draws Crowds
-The following first appeared in The Floyd Press on July 10, 2025
Crowd attendances at the Floyd Small Town Summer events at the Warren G. Lineberry Memorial Park, are a testament to how popular the free, family friendly summer series is.
Presented by the Town of Floyd and sponsored by local organizations and businesses, the well-organized program is headed-up by Dylan Locke, the co-owner of The Floyd Country Store who has been playing and promoting music events for decades.
The fun begins every other Thursday night from June 5th until August 28th, 2025 at 6 pm. The series, now in its eighth summer, includes live music performances (everything from old time and bluegrass, Americana, soul, jazz, Cajun, country, rock and funk), an active Kid Zone and a variety of information and vending booths.
Vendors at the July 3rd Small Town Summer included Springhouse Community School, which offered a hands-on printing activity for all ages, the Floyd Asylum Seekers, the Floyd Chamber of Commerce and the Floyd Center for the Arts, which is hosting a summer long art project in partnership with Small Town Summer.
There are always lines for the party bounce houses and slides, but the face painting tent usually has the longest lines. Yard games, live goats, a book mobile and tie dyeing were all part of the Kid Zone offerings.
The show started with performances by Handmade Music School students who were attending the HMS teen music camp at the Floyd EcoVillage.
They were followed by two bands that are scheduled to play at Floydfest Aurora, July 23 – 27. Mackenzie Roark and The Hotpants, the Americana rock band from Richmond who won last year’s Floydfest On-the-Rise patron voted competition, was the headline act. Singer songwriter and Floydfest On-the-Rise 2024 runner up Ranford Almond was also featured.
A winner was announced for a photo contest of the rainbow that appeared at the June 19th Small Town Summer, and a free five-day past to Floydfest 25 Aurora was presented to a lucky winner by Locke and Floydfest CEO John Mcbroom.
“It’s awesome. So Floyd,” said Locke, in between introducing bands and thanking sponsors at the July 3rd event.
Randye Schwartz, who’s been coming to Small Town Summer with her family for years, agreed with Locke’s “awesome” description. “It’s awesome to look out and see all these kids playing,” Schwartz said.
“I like live music outdoors for sure,” she elaborated. “I also like seeing people. There’s a lot of people I don’t see all year long, or hardly at all, who come out here, and that’s always fun.”
It was later estimated by organizers that the July 3rd event may have been their biggest turn out yet. Next up is July 17th Small Town Summer with musical guests Hope Clayburn and Shmazz and an after dark movie showing of The Lion King. – Colleen Redman