Our local merchants plan exciting, engaging in-store events including food and beverage tastings, local art exhibits, retail trunk shows, live music, family activities, and entertainment in a special and unique way you'll only find in Downtown Boise. Stop into your favorite establishment or check out someplace new!
Events typically run from 5–9pm, but each merchant creatively plans their own event so check each listing below for individual hours and details.
Wassmuth Center's Hansberger Art Awards
1000 Myrtle St • (208) 639-6610
Art Music Food & Beverage Kid-Friendly Activity
Experience the beauty and strength of American diversity through art on Thursday, May 7, 2026 at JUMP! The Wassmuth Center’s Hansberger Arts Awards Showcase highlights student performance, writing, and visual arts in response to Article 2 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Freedom from Discrimination. Don’t miss this community-wide celebration of kindergarten through 12th grade Idaho artists!
Located on the 6th floor in the Pioneer Room
Event Schedule
5:00 p.m. Student Arts Showcase, Idaho Gives Nonprofit Table Fair, Drinks & small bites available for purchase
6:30 p.m. Student Arts Awards
7:30 p.m. Boise Rock School Performance
For a full schedule of city-sponsored America 250 events, visit cityofboise.org/America250.
Parking
To access JUMP, we encourage you to use public transportation or carpool. Paid parking options are limited at JUMP and ParkBOI facilities. Plan ahead!
Accommodation
The City of Boise is committed to ensuring equal access to all public meetings, programs, and services. Reasonable accommodations and effective communication—such as ASL interpretation, materials in alternative formats and language access—are available at no cost to facilitate participation. To request an accommodation, please contact us at CommunityEngagement@cityofboise.org or call (208) 972-8500, TTY: 711.
Hemlock
500 S Capitol Blvd •
Food & Beverage Activity
Join us at the bar from 3–6 PM.
Indulge in:
Boise’s Best Burger.
Steak skewers. Oyster shooters. Gaucho meatballs.
Duck-fat potatoes. Fries. Marinated olives.
$7 drafts.
$9 select wines.
$10 classic cocktails.
Two Hemlock Happy Hour rituals to get the most of First Thursdays:
Hemlock Happy Meal
Haute Girl Dinner
Toy POP!
780 W Main St • 2088590095
Art Kid-Friendly Activity
Meet local author/illustrator Jen Zelinsky for a reading of her book Running Back To Me, a children's book that supports emotional wellness & self discovery. For every book sold, Toy Pop will donate a copy to a local Boise organization.
We will also have coloring pages for the kids, free fidget toys with minimum purchase, and free tote bags when you purchase $50 or more!
Flow Arts Spin Jam
1000 Myrtle St • (208) 639-6610
Art Kid-Friendly Activity
FREE Flow Arts Spin Jam - Raffle - Hula Hoop Contest - Prizes
Props Provided - All Ages
Instructor: Krissy Humphreys
Flow arts is a dynamic practice that blends elements of dance, skill-based object manipulation, and creative expression. It often incorporates props such as poi, hula hoops, staffs, fans, and juggling equipment, which are used in rhythmic, fluid movements to create visual artistry or tell a story.
Spin jams are social gatherings for flow artists and anyone curious about flow arts. They offer an inclusive, welcoming space where people of all skill levels can explore prop-based manipulation. These gatherings are the heart of the community—where we come together to share ideas, connect and become part of a community.
What are Spin Jams?
Spin jams are social gatherings for flow artists and anyone curious about flow arts. They offer an inclusive, welcoming space where people of all skill levels can explore prop-based manipulation. These gatherings are the heart of the community—where we come together to share ideas, connect and become part of a community.
Participants will learn:
Basic moves for poi, hoops, fans, flow wand, and other props
Introduction to timing, direction and planes (Fundamentals for learning flow arts)
How to share ideas, moves and connect with others through flow arts.
Overcoming the fear of "messing up"
How to move and dance with different props
The joy of inclusivity and connection
Spatial and body awareness
Neighborhood Prom!
1118 W Idaho St • (208) 343-0571
Art Music Activity
Join us at Neighborhood Prom!
Presented by Neighborhood Imagination Foundation (NIF) and Larry Flynn Benefit Events.
Mark your calendar: May 7th at 6:30-10:00pm at The Shrine Ballroom (upstairs).
The unforgettable night includes a presentation from NIF, live auction and paddle raise, the Royalty Raffle, drinks for purchase, Jilly.FM on the tunes, and dancing until bedtime!
Each ticket comes with a custom Party to the People Neighborhood Prom tote! Must be present to collect.
Follow us on Instagram or visit our website and sign up for email updates for more information!
Secure your ticket today!
Art Source Gallery
1516 Grove St • 208-331-3374
Art Shop Music Food & Beverage Kid-Friendly Activity
Join us for the First Thursday opening reception of “Upon Closer Reflection”, a feature artist exhibition by Boise artist Beth Trott, May 7, 5–9 pm. The artist will be there, along with snacks, wine and live music.
Beth explores the natural world through a blend of observation and abstraction. Featuring both new and recent work from this series, the show runs May 5–30 at Art Source Gallery, in the Linen Arts District.
Hearts on Fire Books
218 N 9th ST •
Activity
Ask a Sex Educator with Emma Ballantyne LCSW and Balanced Rock Wellness
Do you ever wonder why reading that chapter turned you on? Do you wish you could explain to your partner(s) why something gave you the ick?
Come ask your questions to a sex educator/therapist and learn more about the brain science of sex.
Overview: Patrons and readers will have the opportunity to meet, talk with and ask questions about sex with a sex educator/therapist. The educator/therapist will be there to answer general questions about the brain science of sex, the diversity of human sexual interest, and the normalcy of exploration. The open question format allows readers and patrons to approach on their own comfort and ask indirect questions and receive comprehensive science based answers. The educator will have non-fiction and educational materials for readers to explore.
Lenses & Brushes
404 S 8TH ST, L100 • 2085902612
Art Shop Kid-Friendly Activity
First Thursday: The Found Camera Project
What happens when you hand a camera to a stranger and ask them to tell a story?
Join us at Lenses & Brushes for a First Thursday exhibition of The Found Camera Project—a community film photography experience where cameras were hidden throughout downtown Boise and discovered by curious explorers. Each person who found a camera captured their own moments before returning it to be developed and printed in our darkroom.
This showcase features a collection of those images—raw, honest, and beautifully unexpected—creating a shared visual story of Boise through many different perspectives.
Let’s make art together.
House of Wine
1008 W Main St • 208-297-9463
Art Shop Food & Beverage Activity
Come join us at House of Wine for our exciting “First Thursday” event in May!
For this night we’ll put aside our regular wine by the glass options and offer selections for a FREE “May Sunshine Wines” tasting from our friend Jackie Elo from Amphora Wines- a locally owned wine distributor.
The festivities begin at 5pm and last until 8pm. This is a free event and no registration is required. We look forward to welcoming you!
Idaho Art Gallery
702 W Idaho St • (208) 733-4134
Art Shop Activity
Opening Reception: Seasons and Soliloquies by Zack Thurmond
702 W Idaho St STE 105 – Idaho Art Gallery
Thursday, May 7, 2026 | 5–9PM
Join us for the opening reception of Seasons and Soliloquies, a solo exhibition by Zack Thurmond, on Thursday, May 7 from 5-9pm at Idaho Art Gallery in downtown Boise.
Born in St. Louis and shaped by years in the Mountain West, Thurmond’s work is rooted in a deep and enduring connection to place. Largely self-taught, with a BFA from Boise State University, his paintings draw from direct observation, often beginning as small plein air studies before expanding into larger studio compositions. Whether working from a single creek drainage or a stand of aspens, Thurmond returns again and again to the landscapes that surround him, exploring a distinctly “hyperlocal” sense of place.
In Seasons and Soliloquies, these landscapes become a vehicle for reflection. At its core, this exhibition considers the passage of time not as something to resist, but as something to experience more fully. Each painting holds space for quiet observation, echoing the artist’s own awareness of time’s steady movement and the beauty embedded within it. Through changing seasons, weather, and light, Thurmond invites viewers to slow down, to notice, and to reconnect with the rhythms of the natural world.
Thurmond’s work is held in public and private collections across North America and Europe. He currently lives in Idaho with his wife, two children, and three dogs, and serves as Chief Preparator at the Boise Art Museum.
Alongside Seasons and Soliloquies, explore our current open-theme group exhibition featuring local and national artists, as well as our curated gift shop offering original works, small-format pieces, and locally made goods.
Join us for an evening of art, conversation, and community in the heart of downtown Boise.
Fred Astaire Dance Studios Boise
1511 W Main Street • 208-514-0440
Music Food & Beverage Activity
Boise's ONLY guided social dancing party!
The perfect opportunity to get comfortable on a social dance floor in a safe and fun environment!
Practice your moves and meet our dance community! Come for a few minutes just to check the place out, or stay and practice to music from a variety of dance styles.
No partner required — or bring your friends. We love to see couples who want to dance together, too. Everyone is welcome, no experience required!
Dance Demos & Free Newcomer Group Variety Class from 7:00pm—7:45pm
Social Dancing Party from 7:45—8:30pm