Revamped MacFresco called success

Rusty Rae/News-Register##Third Street was blocked off for the first MacFresco event of the summer, held June 19-21. In addition to dining and shopping, the weekend featured Juneteenth, Pride and Make Music McMinnville activities on the street. New, larger barricades blocked each end of Third to keep vehicles out. The next MacFresco is July 17-19.

MacFresco’s first weekend in its new format ­— three times over the summer, rather than weekly — was well received, according to Emily Matsuda, co-director of the McMinnville Downtown Association.

During MacFresco, Third Street is closed to vehicles, which allows restaurants, tasting rooms and other businesses to spread onto the street. It doubles the space in which restaurants can seat and serve customers, Matsuda said.

“I just love seeing everyone out on the street, enjoying themselves,” she said.

Matsuda said crowds turned out for the city of McMinnville’s Juneteenth Festival on Friday, the opening day of the June MacFresco event.

Downtown also was crowded Saturday during Wine Country Pride’s annual Pride on Third event. Matsuda said organizers surveyed festivalgoers and found that 57% were from McMinnville and another 20% from other parts of Yamhill County; 91% said they were downtown specifically for Pride, and 57% reported going to a shop they’d never visited before.

“That really fits our goal of getting folks downtown shopping and eating,” she said.

Matsuda said some people have a misconception that Third Street is just for tourists.

“We have so many local events happening downtown, and the store owners love the local community,” she said.

The first MacFresco marked the debut of new street closure barricades, which blocked each end of Third so vehicles could not enter. Access was available from side streets, she said.

The next MacFresco, July 17-19, will again feature dining, sipping and shopping outside. In addition, it will include the new McMinnville Art Festival on Saturday and Sunday, the 18th and 19th.

MacFresco was started by the MDA as Dine Out(side) in 2020 as a way for restaurants to continue serving customers during the pandemic. It proved so popular, it continued subsequent summers. Its name was changed to reflect a broader mix of participants.