'First Fridays' Gets Sweet— And Musical

"First Fridays" this Feb. 3 will be sweeter—and more harmonious.

From 6 to 8 p.m., the bi-monthly event organized by Los Altos Forward has a Valentine Sweets Tour and an eclectic array of musical offerings—barbershop, choral, rock, instrumental—playing at stores and restaurants throughout the downtown core. Plus, there will be a children's Valentine card-making activity.

About 30 shops and 20 restaurants are participating, said organizer Joe Eyre via e-mail. Organizers will hand out maps. Those who have tasted eight desserts will be eligible for a drawing for Valentine’s dinners at restaurants downtown.

First Friday's aim is to get people out, walking downtown and popping inside stores. At its inaugural event in December, it was all Santa Claus, hot cocoa, soup, tea sandwiches and rides on the American Legion's "train."

Music adds a new dimension to the program this month, and some opportunities for residents to hear something new. First Fridays took advantage of the Bay Area tour of The Matsiko World Orphans Choir tour and booked them in-between performances at Google in Mountain View and the Sanctuary Ministries in Concord.

Stephen D'Andrea, a volunteer for the First Friday team, has a deep background in music and he recruited the choir for this First Friday event, according to Eyre. The International Children's Network brings together orphans from Peru, India and Liberia in a single choir that has toured the U.S.

Also appearing, in venues of local merchants, and strolling around:

• Boomerang - Barbershop Quartet 
• Cup Roman – Rock Band 
• Daves and Confused – Barbershop Quartet 
• Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra – String Quartet 
• Maseiko World Orphan Choir 
• Richard Corny – Solo Guitarist 
• Alyssa Oberhauser – Vocalist

"We are getting incredibly supportive and positive feedback from the public, merchants, and other businesses in town," Eyre wrote in an e-mail. 

December's performance, with little planning time and advance notice, helped build support for February's First Frida event, which attracted some sponsorship money to defray costs and signed up 30 merchants to participate.

"We know the attendees had a lot of fun (especially riding the American Legion train) and we heard afterwards from several merchants that they were impressed with the turnout," Eyre said.

Several merchants recently signed up which Eyre thought was an indication that word was getting around and people wanted to be part of the event.