STEUBENVILLE — Ask Marc Barnes why First Fridays on Fourth Street continues to be a successful event and he will give you a simple answer: It’s something that the city really wants.

“It has become a system,” said Barnes while discussing the monthly street festival that returns Friday night. “Over the years, we have been able to develop solid relationships with people who see the value of it and contribute with their own little part to the festival. It’s the guy who brings the porta johns, the person who runs the sound, the businesses on Fourth Street and the sponsors.”

Barnes is president of the Harmonium Project, the nonprofit organization that looks to cultivate joy, music, art and hope in the community. One of the ways it does that is to present First Fridays on Fourth, which will begin its ninth season Friday.

“It’s not a machine,” he added. “Everyone has to do it every year. It’s a trust and an expectation that the city has given to us. That’s the main reason it seems to get bigger and better.”

Scheduled to run from 5:30 p.m. to 11 p.m., the first edition of the season will feature a May Day theme — a celebration of all things spring, Barnes said. There will be groups performing traditional Maypole dances, spring games and activities for the kids and choir performances plus all activities attendees have come to expect, including live music and numerous vendors selling food, drinks and many other items.

It all takes place on the portion of Fourth Street that runs from Adams to Washington streets and stretches a bit to Market Street.

“This year, we’re going to have a designated kids tent,” Barnes said. “For May, girls will be able to make their own flower crowns and there will be face painting. Then we will have the bouncy castles and other sport activities. It’s all part of the fun.”

First Fridays runs across six months and covers three seasons. The next event, set for June 5, will be special, Barnes promises, and the July 3 edition will be even bigger because it will be incorporated into events being planned throughout the community to celebrate the country’s 250th anniversary. It will be a collaboration, he said, among many different organizations — including the Harmonium Project, city government and the Mark Nelson family.

The remainder of the schedule will include Aug. 7, Sept. 4 and Oct. 2.

According to Barnes, the festival is one component in continued improvement for the city’s downtown.

“I think it’s helping downtown,” he said. “The downtown needs investment and population. You’re never going to revive downtown with just having a party. You need investment to fix the infrastructure, population to fill the downtown and to market the businesses.

“I do think that to attract that investment, you have to be an attractive place, and I think First Fridays on Fourth makes downtown Steubenville a very attractive place.”

There’s already a lot of evidence that there’s a positive change in the city.

“We’ve seen that in the last four years the commercial district’s decline has stabilized and turned around,” Barnes said. “That means businesses that have closed have reopened with new owners, buildings that have been in trouble are now being taken care of and fixed and new businesses are opening. That’s a normal part of downtown life now.”

And an event like First Fridays can help make a difference.

“If you are a family and you are thinking of moving to Steubenville and you come to visit and you get to experience a First Friday versus a regular day, then it is obvious which of those days is going to seal the deal,” Barnes said.

As the event has grown since it was started in 2018, it has become more geared toward a place where families can come and enjoy themselves.

“It’s family-oriented and has become even more so over the years,” Barnes explained. “Steubenville has become the kind of city where if you can do something for the kids, you lift the hearts of everybody. The biggest complaint here is that there’s nothing to do for the kids. People are worrying about their children, so what we’ve really been trying to do is to create that safe environment. It’s incredible how when you block the street and eliminate the fear of traffic how much people open up.”

Barnes pointed out that as a nonprofit, the Harmonium Project depends on donations and grants from organizations like the J.C. Williams Foundation to continue its efforts.

“Our total cost each year to put on the festival is about $41,000,” he said. “That’s everything from hiring musicians and entertainment, which is the main cost, to paying for temporary liquor permits to hiring police officers for the event, to bouncy castles — you name it.”

All of that adds up to an experience that continues to grow.

“It seems to get bigger and better each year,” Barnes said. “The crowd has gotten consistently bigger over the years and we need more space for the festival downtown. I think it is getting better and better.”