We Set Out to Change Downtown Colfax. Here’s What Happened Next.

There is a version of this story where we talk about what we built and how hard we worked to build it.

That is not this story.

This story is about what happens when a community decides it deserves more — and then proves it.

A recent report from Main Street America confirms what we are already seeing on the ground in Colfax — that events and experiences are one of the most powerful drivers of downtown foot traffic and economic activity. We wrote about what that looks like here in Colfax. The Historic Colfax Summer Concert Series is that strategy in action.

It Started With a Grant We Didn’t Win

A few years ago the Historic Colfax Downtown Association applied for the Levitt Foundation grant — one of the most competitive community music grants in the country. To get there we needed public votes. So we threw a concert right here on Main Street and asked Colfax to show up.

And Colfax showed up.

This community voted us into the national top 50, outmobilizing cities a hundred times our size. The Colfax Record captured what that night felt like when it quoted a concert attendee — “This is the most alive I’ve ever seen Colfax.”

We didn’t win the grant.

But we couldn’t walk away from what we had just witnessed. Because what we saw that night wasn’t an event. It was a community telling us exactly who it wanted to become.

So We Built It Anyway

With early backing of the City of Colfax and City Council, and sponsors who believed in this event before the first note was ever played, the Historic Colfax Downtown Association launched Live in — Live in Colfax.

Not because we had all the resources. Because we had all the proof we needed.

This Summer Is the Result

Five free concerts. Five Saturday nights. Historic Main Street in Colfax closed to traffic and open to everyone — from May through September 2026.

We are not booking whoever is available. We are bringing regional and touring acts with proven draws — musicians who give people a reason to drive up from Sacramento, pull off I-80 on their way to Tahoe, and spend an evening discovering what Colfax has been quietly building.

The 2026 lineup includes artists who have played stages from California to Ireland, from Memphis to Nashville.

All of it free. All of it on Main Street. All of it made possible by this community and the sponsors and partners who believe in its future.

This Is What the Mission Looks Like

The Historic Colfax Downtown Association exists to breathe new life into historic downtown Colfax — to build the kind of downtown that makes people want to stay, return, and invest.

Live in Colfax is not a side project. It is the mission in action.

Every person who drives up from Sacramento for a free Saturday night concert discovers a downtown worth coming back to. Every family who spreads a blanket on Main Street is building a memory that makes Colfax home. Every vendor who sells out their inventory — as one did at our very first concert — is proof that when you give people a reason to gather, commerce follows.

We are proud of what this community has built. And we are just getting started.

Join Us This Summer

The full 2026 lineup and event details are live at LiveinColfax.com. All concerts are free and open to the public. No tickets required.

If you want to be part of making this happen — as a sponsor, a vendor, or a supporter — we would love to hear from you at liveincolfax.com/become-a-sponsor.

See you on Main Street.

— The Historic Colfax Downtown Association