Secrest Auditorium is closed for renovations. That single fact rearranged where Zanesville spends its Thursday nights, and if you have lived here through a few summers, the change is worth paying attention to.
The Secrest Summer Concert Series moved to Zane's Landing Park for the 2026 season, and it stayed free, with food trucks, a beer garden, and shuttle service from downtown built in around the shows. What might have looked like a scheduling headache turned into something else: for the first time in a long time, almost every meaningful summer event downtown is happening inside a walkable loop between the Y-Bridge, the Secrest complex on Shinnick Street, and the riverfront park at 200 Market. That's the thesis of this post. The rest is how to use it.
The Thursday-Night Anchor
Zane's Landing is doing the heavy lifting this year. The concerts run on Thursdays with the same rhythm each week: DJ Adonis opens at 5, a regional opener at 6, headliner tribute band at 7:30. Here's what July looks like on the water.
| Date | Headliner | Tribute To |
|---|---|---|
| July 9 | Madman's Diary | Ozzy Osbourne |
| July 16 | North to Nashville | Ohio-based country |
| July 23 | Thunderstruck | AC/DC |
If you have not been down to Zane's Landing since the fireworks a couple of summers ago, the setup is different from what you remember at Secrest. The stage is outdoor, the sightlines are longer, and the food-truck row along the park edge means you can eat without leaving for a restaurant. Bring folding chairs. The lawn slopes gently toward the Muskingum, and the shuttle from downtown solves the parking crunch that used to define concert nights on Shinnick.
Why the DORA Map Matters More This Summer
Zanesville's Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area has been in place for a while, but its geography suddenly makes more sense. The DORA lets you carry a beverage purchased from a participating downtown location out into the district, seven days a week, with extended hours during special events. When the concerts were at Secrest, the DORA was a nice thing to have on a Saturday afternoon. Now, with the shows a short walk from Main Street, it's the connective tissue between dinner and the 7:30 set.
A workable Thursday route:
- Start at Weasel Boy Brewing Company on Muskingum Avenue around 5:30. Grab a pint and a pizza. Live music runs there on Saturdays if you want a different night, and the Rum Room is open Wednesday, Thursday, and First Fridays from 7 to 10.
- Cross into the DORA with your cup and walk over to Tapas Caribbean Kitchen on South 6th if you want a second stop before the show.
- Head to Zane's Landing for the 7:30 headliner. Fireworks from Putnam Hill Park on July 4 use the same sightlines from the park lawn if you're planning that weekend separately.
None of this required a car. That is not a small thing in a town where the summer calendar used to be a scattered set of "drive there, park, drive home" outings.
The Pottery Week Most Residents Have Never Actually Walked Through
July 14 through 18 is Pottery Lovers Reunion week. The concept is unusual enough that it deserves a sentence: a Zanesville hotel is converted, floor by floor, into dozens of small pottery shops for the week, with dealers from around the country selling classic American art pottery alongside contemporary ceramic work. It has been happening for years. Most locals I talk to have driven past it every summer without going in.
Here's the case for stopping this year. Zanesville is on the map for pottery collectors nationally, and the Reunion is why. You do not have to be a collector to walk the halls. If you own a home built before 1960 in the Putnam or Terrace neighborhoods, there's a reasonable chance the previous owner had a Weller or Roseville piece on a shelf. The dealers can tell you what you have, and they will do it for free. Treat it like a farmers' market with different inventory.
If pottery is genuinely not your thing, the Zanesville Museum of Art keeps a permanent ceramic collection year-round, and it's the same walk from downtown.
Y-Bridge Weekend Is the Season's Real Finale
The Y-Bridge Arts Festival runs July 31 and August 1 at the Secrest Auditorium complex on Shinnick. Approximately 75 visual artists and 25 performing artists and dance troupes set up across outdoor tents and the indoor Heritage Room at the Secrest Welcome Center, with two primetime bands anchoring Friday and Saturday nights.
A few things about this festival that are not obvious from the flyer:
- It's the only weekend all summer where the artist mix runs this deep. If you have been thinking about buying original work for a hallway or a dining room, this is the weekend to do it, not a Saturday drive to Columbus.
- Because the concerts have been at Zane's Landing all summer, the Secrest complex is going to feel like a re-opening for a lot of people. Expect crowds.
- Parking behaves the way it does during a Friday night football game. Come early or take the walk from the north end of downtown.
The Rest of the Calendar, Compressed
A quick reference for the pieces that don't need a full section:
- Stars & Stripes on the River, July 3 (3–10 pm) and July 4 (noon–10 pm) at Zane's Landing. Free admission, live music, kids' inflatables, food trucks, and fireworks from Putnam Hill Park at dusk on the 4th. This is your America 250 anchor for the weekend.
- Zanesville Farmers Market, running at Adornetto's. Perry Morgan Pickers on the schedule for the season's opening dates. Bring cash for the small vendors.
- Cool Rides and Hot Rods Car Show, July 11, 9:30 am, at 3370 E Pike if you're on that side of town.
- State of the County Luncheon, July 29 at Weatherington Woods. Not for everyone, but useful if you follow Muskingum County government.
- Zanesville Riverfest, September 5–6. Worth putting on the calendar now because the fall lineup fills up fast and this one is the closer.
Where to Eat If You're Making a Night of It
The downtown dining picture has stabilized enough that recommendations are safe to give. Beyond Weasel Boy and Tapas Caribbean Kitchen, the short list of downtown-adjacent spots worth the walk:
- The Downtown Exchange for a sit-down meal that feels like an occasion.
- The Lucky Jupiter Bar for a drink after a show.
- The Walk Cafe & Bakery if you're doing a Saturday morning before the farmers market.
- Tom's Ice Cream Bowl on the way home. It has been there long enough that most of us stopped mentioning it, which is a mistake.
For the concert crowd specifically, the food trucks at Zane's Landing solve dinner if you don't want to plan around a restaurant reservation.
What This Summer Actually Tells Us About Downtown
The reason the Secrest relocation matters beyond one concert season is what it revealed about the geography. When the concerts, the pottery week, the arts festival, the July 4 celebration, and the DORA sipping district all sit inside a fifteen-minute walk of each other, downtown Zanesville stops feeling like a place you drive to for a specific errand. It starts feeling like a district you spend an evening in.
That's a shift worth noticing, whether you have owned your home here for thirty years or you moved onto Putnam Avenue last October. The renovation at Secrest will end. The concerts will probably move back. But the muscle memory of walking from Muskingum Avenue to the riverfront with a cup in your hand and a show at 7:30 is the kind of thing that changes how a town feels about itself.
Bring a friend from out of town on a Thursday in July. Watch what they notice.
If your summer plans include a bigger question about staying in Zanesville, upsizing to a place closer to downtown, or moving out to a little more land in Muskingum County, we're happy to talk through what's on the market and what your current home would list for right now. Reach out to J Moore Realty Group for a free home valuation and a straightforward conversation about the next step.
