08/28/2026
๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐ฟ๐๐ ๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ผ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฆ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ผ๐ป ๐ณ๐ถ๐ป๐ฎ๐น๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐. ๐ฐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฑ๐ผ๐๐ป๐๐ผ๐๐ป ๐๐ฉ๐
๐&๐ ๐๐ฏ๐ค., ๐๐๐-๐ฃ๐ข๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ & ๐ง๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฌ ๐ฃ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ, ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต
GAINESVILLE, Ga. (Aug. 24, 2026) โ Things are gonna get funky in the City of Gainesville, Georgia as the curtain closes on the 2026 First Friday Concert Series come early September.
The "Hospitality Capital of the World" welcomes Atlanta-based soul and funk band R&B Inc. at the City-hosted event, slated for 7-10 p.m. Friday, Sept. 4, on the historic square in Downtown Gainesville.
"The end of the First Friday Concert Series is always bittersweet. On one hand, we're closing out a remarkable five months of live performances that have brought our community together, but on the other hand, the excitement is building for cooler temperatures, the holiday season and all the festivities that come with that โ some of the City's largest events of the year," said Special Events Manager Karen Diaz, with the Gainesville Tourism Department. "But before we refocus our efforts on Jingle Mingle or Christmas on Green Street, R&B Inc. is going to close us out on a 'feel-good' note, delivering a performance that not only reawakens the rhythm-and-blues era, but tides us over until the series returns in May 2027."
The summer concert series continues monthly through September, featuring the following performers the first Friday of every month: ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ ฬถ(ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ขฬถ ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ)ฬถ,ฬถ ฬถ๐ผฬถ๐ฬถ๐ขฬถ ฬถ๐ทฬถ; ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ ฬถ๐ถฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ ฬถ(ฬถ'ฬถ๐พฬถ๐ถฬถ๐ฬถ,ฬถ ฬถ'ฬถ๐ฟฬถ๐ถฬถ๐ฬถ ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ ฬถ๐ธฬถ๐ถฬถ๐ถฬถ๐ถฬถ๐ฬถ ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ขฬถ ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ)ฬถ,ฬถ ฬถ๐นฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ ฬถ๐ปฬถ; ๐ตฬถ๐ฬถ๐ขฬถ ฬถ๐ฑฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ขฬถ ฬถ๐ฑฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ ฬถ(ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ขฬถ ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ)ฬถ,ฬถ ฬถ๐นฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ขฬถ ฬถ๐นฬถ ฬถ๐ ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ ฬถ ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ ฬถ๐ผฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ ฬถ๐ถฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ขฬถ; ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ขฬถ ฬถ๐นฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ ฬถ๐นฬถ ฬถ๐ณฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ ฬถ๐ฟฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ ฬถ(ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ขฬถ/ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ขฬถ-ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ)ฬถ,ฬถ ฬถ๐ฐฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ.ฬถ ฬถ๐ฝฬถ; ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ๐ฬถ R&B Inc. (soul and funk), Sept. 4. Events are free and open to the public.
"When the City invests time and resources into organizing an event for the public, we, of course, want residents and visitors to take advantage of the opportunity to enjoy the beautiful weather and the company of others, but also all that their community offers โ and in this case, all that downtown Gainesville has to offer," Diaz said. "We hope everyone will have something positive to take away from the experience โ that attendees will enjoy the event and make good memories, and that business owners will see an increase in foot traffic and profits."
A nine-piece band, all R&B Inc. members are "seasoned professionals," having appeared in concert with Atlanta Rhythm Section, The Family Stone, The Association, Gary Puckett & The Union Gap, The Zombies, Who's Bad, Marshall Charloff & The Purple XPeRIeNCE, and Mother's Finest, to name a few, states randbincmusic.com.
"Behind the vocal mastery of our lead singer Keith Eatmon, our all-star rhythm section and The Sugar Hill Horns, R&B Inc. excels in maintaining the integrity of the rhythm-and-blues era," the website states.
The main stage will be located at the corner of Spring and Bradford streets. Parking directly around the square will be blocked off at 1 p.m. in preparation for the event.
"After 1 p.m., Spring, Bradford, Washington and Main streets will be closed to traffic, allowing time for vendors and food trucks to get in place, and to enable crews to set up the stage and other equipment," Diaz said. "By 4 p.m., preshow fun will get underway in the middle of the square."
Set up your chairs/blankets on the lawn starting at 4 p.m., then grab a bite and/or beverage downtown or at a nearby vendor before the show starts.
Be sure to visit with Gainesville staff who will be slinging some freebies and cool Explore Gainesville-branded merch in the center of the square.
Find free and covered parking at any one of the following downtown parking decks, all located within walking distance to the historic square: Main Street Parking Deck, 301 Main St.; Gainesville North Parking Deck, 100 Brenau Ave.; and Hall County Parking Facility, 225 Green St. A friendly reminder parking decks are not timed, nor do they require a check-in of any kind.
For updates, "Like" and follow on Facebook or Instagram, or visit exploregainesville.org/first-friday-concerts.
