Second Saturday in Bakersfield
Locals walking around downtown Bakersfield on Second Saturday
September 17, 2021
Second Saturday is the second Saturday of a month where the Bakersfield community designates this day for local events, with the goal of encouraging the population to get active and explore their community.
In Bakersfield, Second Saturday is organized by a nonprofit organization called The Hub of Bakersfield. It was created to encourage residents to spend one day a month downtown, to support local businesses.
Every month, the Hub of Bakersfield releases a map highlighting the downtown businesses offering special discounts, offers or experiences. The map spans across downtown Bakersfield, and it includes information for all participating businesses so attendees can plan their route for the day.
In an interview with Shannon Labare by KGET, co-chair of The Hub (Second Saturday’s sponsoring organization) she said, “Second Saturday is a monthly activity that we set up every single month with downtown storefronts. They sign up and they let us know what is going on. They let us know what specials they are offering, and we share it through our platforms.”
“Every month we deliver out a map that shows what is in context with each other, how to get from one place to the other, so you essentially complain your whole Saturday from coffee to an evening nightcap throughout downtown” she added.
Second Saturday was the brainchild of councilman Andrae Gonzales. Labare stated that Gonzales brought the idea to her as he “saw a lot of businesses in downtown doing some really cool things and wanted to celebrate that,”
“Second Saturday is the one day of the month that we want to as a community want to promote everything that downtown has to offer and give people an excuse or occasion to explore downtown.” Councilman Gonzales said in a KGET interview.
Gonzales shared his excitement about more people wanting to be in downtown since the pandemic.
“You are starting to see blocks create their own sense of character, uniqueness, and identity,” he said.
“I am hopeful that Second Saturday can be that conduit at least once a month to expose the coolness in Bakersfield.” Labare said.
