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 happen all throughout the day, but each merchant creatively plans their own event so check each listing below for individual hours and details.
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September First Thursday Live Art Show!
Join us on the Grove Plaza from 3:00 - 7:00 PM to watch local artists and students from the Idaho Fine Arts Academy do live mural painting. Stop by while enjoying all of your favorite First Thursday activities around Downtown Boise!
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September First Thursday Partner
Boise Art Museum’s Art in the Park is widely recognized as the premier cultural event in the Northwest. This open-air festival, held on the weekend following Labor Day each September, provides visitors of all ages and interests with the opportunity to meet 240 artists and purchase their works.
Boise Art Museum’s Art in the Park: September 11 - 13, 2026
JD's Bodega
161 N Capitol Blvd • (208)519-5516
Shop Food & Beverage Kid-Friendly Activity
Stop by the Bodega on this artsy First Thursday and grab a popcorn and a game of pinball on us.
House of Wine
1008 W Main St • 208-297-9463
Shop Food & Beverage Activity
Come join us at House of Wine for our exciting “First Thursday” event in September!
For this night we’ll put aside our regular wine by the glass options and offer a free three wine tasting with glasses of wine available from local favorite Veer Wine Project!
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!
Re-POP Gifts - 🎨
210 N 10th St • 208-991-6112
Art Shop Kid-Friendly
For those of you who may not already know, BCAF is right around the corner! Boise Comic Arts Festival is going to be September 5th and 6th, and we're so excited for the festivities! So many of our amazing artists here at Re-POP! will have a booth at BCAF! Come get a sneak peek at some of the best that BCAF has to offer!
We will be raffling off a wonderful collection of swag that includes a $25 gift card, and the most notable honor that we at Re-POP! can bestow, a keychain that establishes you as one of our Re-POP! Elite, which gives you 10% off of any purchase over $50 (some exclusions apply).
Come in on First Thursday to get entered into our raffle, but if you pick up any of the art from ANY of our local artists, you will receive an extra entry for each of those applicable items.
Boise Art Museum - 🎨
670 Julia Davis Drive • (208) 345-8330
Art Shop Kid-Friendly Activity
Find inspiration and get creative at BAM during First Thursday! Admission is “pay what you can,” and the Museum is open late, until 7 p.m., to encourage Access for All. Experience 3 NEW exhibitions at BAM, including “James Lavadour: Land of Origin,” “Passage: Hong Chun Zhang,” and “Common Threads: 100 Years of Quilts.”
🎨 Drop in from 4:30 – 6:30 p.m. and get creative in our FREE Studio Art Exploration program in BAM’s Education Studios. Make an abstract landscape painting, inspired by “James Lavadour: Land of Origin.”
Generous support provided by Art Bridges Foundation’s Access for All program.
🎁Stop by the BAM STORE to find unique and creative gifts for all ages.
City Peanut Shop
803 W Bannock St • (208) 433-3931
Shop Food & Beverage
Your friendly local nut dealers will be supplying you favorite beer and nut pairings 5-8:30pm!! Come join us for all the fun!
Toy POP!
780 W Main St • 2088590095
Art Shop Kid-Friendly Activity
We're dropping NEEDOH for first Thursday!
The Needoh will drop at 4:00, line will start at the back door through the breezeway.
We will issue tickets to line holders.
Limit four total per customer, with no more than one per style.
In addition to everyone's favorite squishy, we'll have 10% off all art supplies all day!
Our coloring station will be set up with super hero masks to color and help your little ones get ready for the Boise Comic Arts Festival!
BANANA ink
214 N 9th St • (208) 345-1288
Shop Activity
First Thursday at BANANA ink:
~Scavenger hunt in the shop
~15% off BANANA ink
City Hall Plaza
150 N Capitol Blvd • (208) 384-4422
Shop Food & Beverage Kid-Friendly
We bring the Farmers Market to you! Every Thursday from 1 to 3:30, come and shop for all of the freshest local produce, meat, cheese, and bread at City Hall.
The Mobile Market is a partnership between City of Good and the Boise Farmers Market that strives to provide radical access to fresh, local food for all of our neighbors. We offer an entirely Choose-What-You-Pay model, which means that everyone is invited. The Mobile Market is for you!
Mixed Greens - 🎨
213 N 9th St • (208) 344-1605
Art Shop Food & Beverage Kid-Friendly
First Thursday at Mixed Greens is September 3rd at 5:00PM. Sip some wine with Veer Wine Project. Enjoy a selection of goods from Lavender Dawn Farms. Curbside Books will be pulling up outside Mixed Greens with Slow Pelican Art as a featured artist for the evening. Mixed Greens has been busy restocking the shelves so come see what’s new and don’t forget to say hi! Happy First Thursday to everyone!
Art Source Gallery - 🎨
1516 Grove St • 208-331-3374
Art Shop Music Food & Beverage Kid-Friendly Activity
Join Art Source Gallery for the opening reception of “The Quiet Between the Horizons”, an exhibition of original oil paintings by Boise artist Lisa Bower on Thursday, Sept 3, from 5 to 9 pm.. The collection captures peaceful landscapes illuminated by changing light and dramatic skies. Come meet the artist and enjoy live music and refreshments. The exhibit will be on display through the month of September.
Title Nine
170 N 8th St • (208) 342-1493
Shop
Fresh new Summer Markdowns instore START TODAY! && FALL has arrived. Stop by and see what's new instore.
Save an extra 10% off your entire purchase with all new SMS sign ups.
Idaho Art Gallery - 🎨
702 W Idaho St • (208) 733-4134
Art Shop
Opening Reception: Archeology: Hidden Treasures, a Solo Exhibition by Martha Channer.
Thursday, September 03 | 5-9PM
Idaho Art Gallery | 702 W Idaho St #105 | Downtown Boise
Join us for the opening reception of Archeology: Hidden Treasures, a solo exhibition by local artist Martha Channer, an installation that explores the unity of opposites through the metaphor of an archaeological excavation. Blending symbolism, fantasy, and personal vision, the exhibition invites viewers on a journey beneath the surface—both literally and psychologically—to uncover the hidden landscapes of the unconscious mind. Through a series of mixed-media works, sculptural elements, and installation components, each discovery reveals another layer in a larger narrative while standing as a unique work in its own right.
Inspired by archaeology, mythology, and the shared human experience, the exhibition combines richly textured mixed-media paintings with interactive and environmental elements that encourage curiosity and reflection. Meet the artist, experience this one-of-a-kind installation, and spend the evening exploring an imaginative world where hidden treasures, symbolism, and storytelling come together.
ART HAUS BAR by KIN - 🎨
999 W Main St •
Art Shop Music Food & Beverage Kid-Friendly Activity
LAST NIGHT MARKET OF THE YEAR!
“SEPTEMBERFEST”
Wear your best Bavarian outfit.
LIVE DJ
FOOD, DRINK, DANCE!
OVER 20 unique vendors - farmers, artists, makers, clothing, and much more!
Boise Art Glass - 🎨
1124 W Front St • (208) 345-1825
Art Shop Activity
Pumpkins are back!! Join us and learn how to make a pumpkin in this 30-minute class! Your instructor will walk you through the process providing step-by-step guidance to help you create your very own gord-ous pumpkin! Sign up for a class anytime between 4pm and 9pm.
Lenses & Brushes - 🎨
404 S 8TH ST, L100 • 2085902612
Art Shop Kid-Friendly Activity
First Thursday: Tiny Art Exchange
Make an Artist Trading Card
Thursday, September 3, 2026
5:00–7:00 PM
Lenses & Brushes – Photography & Art Studio
Free • Drop In • All materials provided
Event Description
Celebrate September First Thursday with a little art-making at Lenses & Brushes!
Stop by the studio anytime between 5–7 PM and create your own Artist Trading Card—a miniature, one-of-a-kind piece of artwork measuring just 2½ × 3½ inches.
We'll have watercolor, drawing materials, collage papers, photographic scraps, stamps, markers, and other creative materials available for you to experiment with. No art experience is needed, and there’s no right or wrong way to make your card.
Once you've finished, you can:
Keep it. Trade it. Or leave it.
Add your card to our Tiny Art Exchange, choose another artist's card to take home, or keep your creation as a little reminder of First Thursday in Boise.
Need an idea to get started? We'll have creative prompts available, too.
Create from a memory.
Create from a color.
Create from something you noticed today.
Each card can be stamped on the back with “Made at Lenses & Brushes • First Thursday • Boise, Idaho” before it heads home or joins the exchange.
Come for five minutes or stay awhile. Browse the studio, see the darkroom, make some tiny art, meet other creative people, and discover what's happening at Lenses & Brushes this fall.
Free and open to the community. No registration necessary.
Basque Museum & Cultural Center, Inc - 🎨
611 W Grove Street • 208-343-2671
Art Shop Kid-Friendly Activity
Join us for an evening of culture, creativity, and community! Enjoy free admission to the museum all day, a wine tasting with Winefest Club, and a free art project led by local artist Marianne Schaffeld. Come explore the museum, sip some wine, and get creative with us!
Leap Photography - 🎨
106 N 6th St • 208-703-7360
Art Shop
Leap Photography will be open to the public on Thursday, September 3rd between the hours of 2 pm & 4 pm. If you've ever been curious of what a working photo studio looks like, stop in and say hello. We'll have printed examples of our work on display and our photographer will be on hand to answer any question you may have.
Rediscovered Books - Boise 🎨
1576 W Grove • (208) 376-4229
Art Shop Kid-Friendly Activity
Sarah Cathcart Anderson is an artist, writer and creative director living in Boise. As an illustrator she works both digitally and in ink, pencil and watercolor, creating work that explores the magic and absurdity of the everyday world. This curation will be centered around a company of strange creatures who don't mean to be beastly but, like human children, sometimes they just can't help it.
When she’s not telling stories and making art, Sarah spends her time reading with her kid, hanging with her dogs, and eating amazing food cooked by her husband, Food Network personality and Today Show regular Mark Anderson of The Grill Dads. Her family is thrilled she does so little cooking herself.
Join us and Sarah on First Thursday for a night of creativity and art! There will be an interactive craft where you can create your own Beastly Behavior and even display it on the wall for the rest of the month!