For nearly a decade, the second Saturday of the month has meant one thing on Ocean Drive in Vero Beach: a street closed to traffic, a stage set up in the middle of it, and a crowd of beachgoers settling into lawn chairs for a free concert.
The Sunset Saturday Concert Series, run by the Vero Beach Chamber of Commerce, has become one of the Treasure Coast's most reliable community gatherings. Bob McCabe, chairman of the board of the Vero Beach Chamber of Commerce, said the event has grown steadily since the chamber took it over from another organization.
"We've been doing them now for, I guess, seven or eight years," McCabe said. "It's just a real nice time."
The concerts take place at Humiston Beach Park, with the chamber closing off Ocean Drive and setting up a stage in the street. A different band plays each month, and the crowds can be substantial.
"We get really huge crowds, probably 1,100, 1,200 during the season," McCabe said.
Six vendors set up food for sale, and the chamber runs a beer and wine tent to help cover the cost of putting on the event.
With so many residents arriving on the Treasure Coast for the winter months, McCabe said getting the word out matters. The chamber promotes the series through email newsletters and makes the case for it directly to local leaders.
"We go to city council and talk about it," McCabe said. "We have coffees with the mayor and promote it."
Even so, McCabe said word of mouth has become the series' best promotion. He said people regularly stop him at city meetings, eager for the season to start.
"A number of people just stopped me at the city council meetings or other meetings and just say, 'Hurry up, we want to have those concerts,'" McCabe said.
The series has expanded over the past several years. McCabe said it once ran for six months a year and has grown to eight months as demand has increased.
Warmer months can still draw a crowd, McCabe said, even if concertgoers adapt as the evening goes on.
"We find when it's warmer out, we're in the middle of the street," he said. "As the afternoon goes on … you see people migrating to stay in the shade sometimes."
The concerts run from 5 to 8 p.m., a change from earlier years. McCabe said ending promptly at 8 gives attendees time to head to dinner afterward, a shift meant to bring local restaurants into the fold as informal partners.
"A lot of people like to go out to dinner just after that," he said. "And when we end promptly at eight, there's still plenty of time to do that."
Beyond the music, McCabe described a scene that spills well past the stage. Many visitors bring lawn chairs and set up in the street, while others spread out with picnics in Humiston Beach Park for a clear view of the band.
"We get a lot of people dancing and the kids and the hula hoops and all that kind of stuff," McCabe said.
McCabe said he and other chamber volunteers are typically on hand at the beer and wine tent and welcome newcomers to stop by.