High temperatures and humid weather weren't enough to deter Oxford families from transforming High Street and the Uptown parks into a beach paradise Friday night. The event was part of the city's Red Brick Friday programming.
The 80-degree heat and humid weather didn't stop families from showing up to Oxford's beach celebration right on High Street. This year's "Beach Staycation," one of the city's Red Brick Friday events, featured dozens of tents from vendors to organizations, inflatable waterslides, a sand pit for sandcastles, live music and more.
The majority of attendees were kids playing in the splash pad or going down one of the four inflatables. Adults had the opportunity to eat at one of the food trucks, watch to the band SunBurners perform and browse the stalls.
One of the SunBurners' five musicians, bass player Joe Bishop, said they've been playing in Oxford for years and enjoy coming up from Cincinnati to perform.
"[My favorite part] is just the people here to be honest," Bishop said. "I've been coming up playing Oxford for probably a decade and everybody from the people putting on the event to the people running sound [are awesome]. It's just really good."
The island-themed band performed from 6-10 p.m. with intermittent breaks.
At Red Brick Friday's "Staycation," people had the option to peruse vendors or take a turn on the slip and slide. Photo by Taylor Stumbaugh
Uptown businesses joined in the fun, too. Places like Apple Tree and Uptown Blends had beach-themed decor in or around their shops and doors wide open.
Apple Tree floor manager Amy Schlake had an alcohol free margarita stand outside her shop, bringing in customers with the free sweet treat or with the hope to get reprieve from the heat inside the store.
"We have participated from the beginning," Schlake said. "We love it because it brings the community out, gets the community together on a Friday night. We think the spirit of it is good. So we really enjoyed it. We love engaging with the public."
She added that she has liked this year's spacing of Red Brick Fridays more than previous years because it allows for more anticipation and excitement to build between events.
One of the booths in attendance was the BEAR lab at Miami University, a behavior, emotions and relationships lab through the psychology department. Ella Amaral, a graduate student and research assistant at Miami University, said the lab studies child and caregiver emotional development over time.
Amaral said the main goal of the booth was to promote their newest study and possibly get recruits from families walking by, but they also enjoy the comradery between stalls.
"I really love talking to like other people running booths too and just seeing who has been at events we've tabled at before because it's a lot of familiar faces," they said, "... it's really nice and I feel like we all support each other."
The next Red Brick Friday's "Books on the Bricks" will be Aug. 2 from 6-10 p.m.
