Downtown Sioux Falls to expand Open Streets program

A popular new downtown program will be getting bigger this year.

Downtown Sioux Falls Inc. launched its Open Streets initiative last year after trying it as a one-time pilot in 2024.

Each First Friday from May through August, a different downtown street was open to pedestrians only and offered special programming designed to draw families.

The program came about as DTSF shifted away from live music programming at 8th & Railroad Center that created some overlap with Levitt at the Falls. It coincided with the City Council “just talking about wanting to have more activation, more activity, more energy in downtown and what it would look like to start closing down some streets,” DTSF CEO Brandon Hanson said.

After the pilot event, “100 percent of (survey) respondents said they enjoyed the experience and wanted to see Open Street happen again,” he said, adding that 80 percent reported that they had discovered a new business and more than 90 percent felt comfortable attending.

“We saw a lot more families, children, coming into downtown.”

The four events in 2025 drew between 9,000 and nearly 20,000 each time, for a total of 55,000 attendees, “which is very successful in our world,” Hanson said. “We’re really, really happy with these metrics.”

That crowd, combined with an economic multiplier, means spending impact ranged between $2.15 million and nearly $14 million depending on if attendees were residents or visitors to Sioux Falls.

Some businesses reported their best day ever “when the closure was right in front of their businesses,” Hanson said. “The point is, our businesses saw a huge lift. Residents told us they felt safer downtown.”

This year, DTSF plans to hold four events again, but this time close two streets each time. Those streets haven’t been announced yet, but the dates and themes will be:

• May 1 — Art & Wine Walk
• June 5 — Designing Downtown, sponsored by Architecture Incorporated in honor of its 50th anniversary and to celebrate pedestrian-friendly design
• July 3 — Celebrating the 250th anniversary of the United States of America
• Aug. 7  — Art & Wine Walk

The 2025 programming was launched with a one-time grant from AARP’s national organization with the intent of becoming self-funded going forward. DTSF has been fundraising the $6,000 it costs to host each event and has sponsors for three of the four, Hanson said.

“We’re really excited to see the business community, the private sector in particular, step up for these,” he said. “The cost is very minimal to get this many people in downtown, and it fits our mission so well.”

Events will run from 5 to 8 p.m. to keep them family-friendly, he added.

“This has given us a platform to talk about walkability, to talk about age-friendly design, complete streets design, adding more trees to downtown and inviting the community at large to participate in their downtown,” Hanson said. “I think the biggest lesson for me was that everybody won in this situation.”

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