Downtown Elyria is closing out its summer concert season on Thursday, August 20, with a finale that blends live soul and rock music, food trucks, and a beer garden in Ely Square from 4:30 to 8:30 p.m. Cleveland-based band Apostle Jones headlines the main stage from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., delivering what organizers describe as the music and spirit of soul, rock, R&B, funk, and blues to wrap up the 2026 Third Thursday series.
The event marks the last installment of this year's Third Thursday gatherings organized by the Elyria Community Partnership, according to the City of Elyria. DJ Rey will open the afternoon with a set from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., setting the stage before Apostle Jones takes over. The band, fronted by singer-songwriter Mikey Silas, was named Best Band by Cleveland Scene and Best Music Artist by Cleveland Magazine in 2023, following the release of its EP “Don't Open Until 3 AM” in December 2024, per Cleveland Music Group.
Between sets, the Elyria Catholic Marching Band and the Mini Pioneers will each perform from 5:55 to 6:15 p.m., giving the square a distinctly local touch before the headliner arrives. GameTruck of Northeast Ohio will run its mobile video game trailer for free play throughout the event, from 4:30 to 8:30 p.m., while The Balloon Vibe brings balloon art and caricatures from 5 to 7 p.m.
Food, Games, and a Beer Garden Round Out the Lineup
Eventgoers will also find a bike route and cornhole setup, a Parks and Recreation mobile rec van, and hands-on activities and games led by local organizations scattered around the square. The Foundry will host a beer garden for adults looking to unwind while browsing the local vendor market. Scheduled food truck vendors include The Original Steaks and Hoagies, Pork Mac N Moore, Bo's Smokey Sticks, Kona Ice, and Donut NV, according to Lorain County.
Community resource tables will also be set up at the event, with Lorain County Community College and regional radio station WOBL both on hand to engage with residents. Organizers list full event details, including the rain-location plan, at elyriatogether.org/events.
Weather Has Reshaped the Schedule Before
This isn't the first time weather has complicated the Third Thursday calendar this year. The July installment, themed Art in the Square, had to be rescheduled to July 30 after poor air quality and severe weather forced changes to its original mid-July date. If conditions turn on August 20, organizers have designated St. Andrew's Hall as the official indoor rain location, a contingency plan the series has leaned on before.
Part of a Broader Push to Revive Downtown Elyria
The Third Thursday series sits at the center of a longer-running strategy by the Elyria Community Partnership to draw foot traffic back to the historic core of the city. The nonprofit, led by Executive Director Monét Roberts, was established in 2021 with $160,000 in seed funding from the Nord Family Foundation, and has since backed a string of placemaking projects around Ely Square. In August 2025, the group unveiled the Historical Looking Glass in the square, a glass installation letting visitors align the current view with a 1935 photograph of the former First Baptist Church, which was demolished in 1950. In March 2026, the partnership also selected Cleveland artists Eileen Dorsey and Garrett Weider to paint a mural on Elyria City Hall facing Huntington Bank.
Ely Square itself, at 400 Broad Street, dates back to the early 1800s, when city founder Heman Ely donated the land to serve as the community's central gathering place and county seat hub. That history has made it a natural anchor for the partnership's efforts, which have also included five new small businesses opening nearby at The Shoppes on Broad in November 2025. Those storefronts sit just blocks from where the summer concert series draws its crowds each month.
Thursday's event closes out a season that has mixed music, art, and civic outreach as tools for downtown revitalization, with organizers pointing residents to elyriatogether.org/events for the latest updates on future programming.
