Oxford prepares for three Red Brick Friday events this summer

With summer in full swing and almost two months until school starts again, the City of Oxford is hosting multiple events Uptown to bring the community together. 

One way the city is doing this is with its annual Red Brick Friday events, set for July 18, Aug. 1 and Aug. 28 this year. 

Red Brick Friday first started during the Covid-19 pandemic, when the city closed High Street and provided tables for people to sit Uptown while staying six feet apart and supporting local businesses. In the five years since then, Red Brick Friday has continued to bring Oxford residents together to have fun in Uptown Park with activities and music. 

Seth Cropenbaker, Oxford’s economic development specialist, said the events are about bringing families together and attracting as many people as possible to the city’s urban center. 

“People really loved and enjoyed those events,” Cropenbaker said. “Today, Red Brick Friday is much more of a community-building event. We really try to focus on the activities that are family-friendly.”

The first Red Brick Friday of 2025 returns the “Beach Staycation” theme from last year and will feature a water slide, pirate stilt walkers and balloon artists. The initial plan was to change the themes each year, according to administrative assistant Ashley Keeton, but the success of “Beach Staycation” and “Books on the Bricks” from last year inspired them to make tweaks to the themes instead of replacing them. 

The themes and attractions are intended to bring in as many people as possible, especially those who don’t usually go to community gatherings. 

“We try to be pretty thoughtful with our events and [bring] a wide variety of vendors and food,” Keeton said. “A lot of people are looking to get out in the community more, and this is a really easy way to do it.”

With each passing year, finding vendors and activities for the events proves to be easier. The city still works to keep Red Brick Fridays fresh, but after five years, Cropenbaker said spreading the word and getting folks to show up hasn’t been a worry. 

“It took a while to build the wheel, just constructing the idea, getting the word out,” Cropenbaker said. “But now …there’s members of our community who look forward to it. Vendors are looking forward to it. We’ve built something that people enjoy.”

The “Books on the Bricks” event makes a reappearance as well from last year, but an added element involves a fairytale theme. The event on Aug. 1 includes a magic show, a bouncy castle and storybook performers.

The third Red Brick Friday takes place on the final weekend of August and welcomes Miami students back. Cropenbaker said that while the first two events can draw in around 800 people throughout the night, the third event has hit more than 5,000 people in the past. 

To prepare for the increased scope of the event, the city partnered with Miami Activities and Programming (MAP). The evening will encompass Main Street and High Street and will feature local food trucks and a zipline. 

The main goal with Red Brick Friday is to not only bring the Oxford community together, but to support local businesses Uptown. Cropenbaker said this is especially important over the summer, when a major part of the town’s customer base is missing as Miami University students leave campus. 

Each year, as the planning team comes up with different ideas for future events, it encourages Oxford citizens to have a voice in what activities or themes they’d like to see. For Keeton, the key to a successful Red Brick Friday is getting people out of their homes on the weekend night. 

“We like to brainstorm with Oxford too,” Keeton said. “We’re really trying to get the pulse of the community to see what will get them out on a Friday night or a Saturday.”

The first Red Brick Friday is under a month away. As the city prepares for the July 18 event, Keeton encourages anyone who hasn’t tried it to bear witness to Uptown Park on that evening. For her and Cropenbaker, Red Brick Friday encompasses the ideal American small-town environment that Oxford boasts. 

“I mean, what else are you going to do on a summer evening in Oxford?” Keeton said. “There’s not a ton going on. [You] might as well come check it out, and if you hate it, you’re Uptown, so you can still go grab dinner or grab a DORA drink and sit in the park.”