Ottawa's Third Friday

Ottawa's Third Friday Arts' culture and entertainment event in downtown Ottawa, IL every Third Friday of the month May - September.

Well we had quite the interesting Third Friday this month! The weather literally rained on our parade but we weren’t le...
08/23/2026

Well we had quite the interesting Third Friday this month! The weather literally rained on our parade but we weren’t letting that ruin all our fun! We made the extremely hard decision to postpone our outdoor market because there was a pretty high chance of severe storms, they did end up missing us but there was still a lot of rain and lightning so I’m glad that we made the choice we did, safety of our makers and guests is always top priority.

However, we still hosted the soft opening of Open Space Gallery & Studios and had our reception for Hailey Williams . We were also able to host artists indoors thanks to our amazing community! A huge thanks to misfitsottawa Jeremiah Joe Coffee Prairie Fox Books CatsEye for working with us and making the situation so much smoother! Our downtown is so amazing! Tangled Roots even offered space but we didn’t end up needing it. I’m so thankful to own a business in a town where everyone works together and is always there to help when needed. And a huge thank you to all the makers for being so understanding.💛

That being said we had an amazing night but will be working on a new date to make up Fridays event, as soon as we know official dates we will share that with you all and we will see you again on September 18th for what was supposed to be our final event of the year but now it’s looking like we get to extend the fun into October!

08/21/2026

Okay friends here’s the lineup for tonight!!

First of all- I just want to say thank you for being patient and for hopefully still coming out, we still have artist setting up indoors , an amazing artist reception at our Madison street location for Hailey Williams as well as a reception at CatsEye for Jay Reed and the artist drop for Heather Pursley! The possible severe weather may have shifted our plans but we’re still going to celebrate the opening of our new LaSalle Street location as well. Let’s have some fun with this and make it a night to explore our downtown!!

•Open Space Kids - (Madison Street location)
Reception for Hailey Williams and makers inside!

•Misfits Ottawa food and drink specials and hosting artists inside

•Disco Bungalow open until 6

•Bold and Curvy Boutique open until 6

•CatsEye reception for Jay Reed and Artists drop for Pursley Pottery

• Jeremiah Joe Coffee downtown location will host artists until 8pm!

• Open Space LaSalle Street Location Soft Opening 5-9pm with artist drop by Toil & Thyme

•Prairie Fox Books artist drop by Cathy Claus and an author reading!

It’s going to be a fun night so come join us downtown 💛

The show must go on! Thunderstorms can’t keep Third Friday away!!-Open Space Kids- (Madison Street location)Reception fo...
08/21/2026

The show must go on! Thunderstorms can’t keep Third Friday away!!

-Open Space Kids- (Madison Street location)
Reception for Hailey Williams and makers inside!

•Misfits Ottawa: food and drink specials and hosting artists inside

•Disco Bungalow: open until 6

•Bold and Curvy Boutique open until 6

•CatsEye reception for Jay Reed and Artists drop for Pursley Pottery

• Jeremiah Joe Coffee downtown location will host artists until 8pm!

• Open Space Art Gallery & Studios LaSalle Street Location Soft Opening 5-9pm with artist drop by Toil & Thyme

•Prairie Fox Books artist drop by Cathy Claus and an author reading!

08/21/2026

THIRD FRIDAY WEATHER UPDATE 🌧️
Due to the incoming storm and out of concern for the safety of our artists, vendors, and community, tonight’s outdoor Third Friday vending has been postponed.

BUT—we’re still celebrating tonight! 💛

✨ The Third Friday reception for Hailey Williams at our Madison Street Gallery is still happening tonight.
✨ We’ll also be having the soft opening of our new LaSalle Street Gallery!
✨ We’re working with local business owners to offer indoor vending opportunities for some of tonight’s artists. Check back for a full list of places to find the artists soon!

We know weather changes are never fun, especially when everyone has been preparing for this event, and we truly appreciate your patience and understanding. Our priority is keeping everyone safe while still finding ways to celebrate our amazing creative community. 💛

**Artists check your emails**

We're excited to announce this month's Artist Drops! This month's theme is Sand and Stone. -Heather Pursley at CatsEye -...
08/21/2026

We're excited to announce this month's Artist Drops! This month's theme is Sand and Stone.

-Heather Pursley at CatsEye
-Aubrey Lee at Open Space Art Gallery & Studios' new space on LaSalle Street!
-Cathy Claus at Prairie Fox Books

Plus, we might have a surprise artist that we're keeping under wraps until later...Watch this space for more deets!
____
We'll see you TONIGHT from 5-9 pm on Madison Street for Ottawa's Third Friday Makers Market! We're keeping a close eye on the weather and will update our social media pages with any updates.

Just 2 days away!! We have so many amazing handmade and homegrown makers this month, along with music by Patrick Butler ...
08/19/2026

Just 2 days away!! We have so many amazing handmade and homegrown makers this month, along with music by Patrick Butler and the Camp Aramoni Food Truck!!

Plus did you hear??? The new LaSalle Street gallery from Open Space Gallery & Studios will be opening their doors for the first time for a soft launch during Third Friday! Be the first to see the new space 💛✨

This Friday, Ottawa’s Third Friday returns to Ottawa! Be sure to stop by our participating businesses hosting Artist Dro...
08/18/2026

This Friday, Ottawa’s Third Friday returns to Ottawa! Be sure to stop by our participating businesses hosting Artist Drops: curated, small batch, original artwork only available during Third Friday.

Heather Pursley of Pursley Pottery will be showcasing a collection of ceramic pieces at CatsEye from 5-9 pm this Friday!

One more week til the penultimate (second to last) Third Friday Makers Market! Make plans to join us for a lively street...
08/15/2026

One more week til the penultimate (second to last) Third Friday Makers Market! Make plans to join us for a lively street festival artisan market on Friday, August 21. The party gets started at 5 pm! We’ll see you there!

Last night was a hot one for sure but our community still showed up and showed the makers so much love!!Hearing the stor...
07/18/2026

Last night was a hot one for sure but our community still showed up and showed the makers so much love!!

Hearing the stories after made my whole week: one of our newer businesses sold out, a first time business had an incredible night, and our gallery artist connected with so many people and sold so many pieces!

Watching our community show up for local artists and makers like this makes every single hour of hard work worth it. We just love Third Fridays so much!!

Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who came out, shopped small, and made it such a special night. See you next month

We know the air quality has a lot of you asking questions today. La Salle County is under an Air Pollution Action Day f...
07/17/2026

We know the air quality has a lot of you asking questions today. La Salle County is under an Air Pollution Action Day from wildfire smoke drifting down from Canada. We take that seriously, and we want everyone at Third Friday tonight to feel good about being there.

A few things to know:
😷 If you’re sensitive to smoke (asthma, respiratory issues, kids, older adults, pregnant folks), consider wearing a mask — an N95 or KN95 works best for smoke particles, better than a cloth mask
💧 Stay hydrated and take breaks in the shade or indoors if you feel any throat irritation, coughing, or eye irritation
🏠 Several shops downtown will have their doors open if you need an AC/clean-air break
👀 We’re watching conditions and will post updates if anything changes

Air quality is expected to improve as the evening goes on. We’ll see you downtown! 💛

Address

Ottawa, IL

Opening Hours

9am - 9pm

Telephone

+18153865533

Website

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