The Irmo Community Park is getting more attention these days than the once-a-year Irmo Okra Strut festival.

A triad of planners that includes the Town of Irmo’s events committee, LNM Promotions and the Greater Irmo Chamber of Commerce is pushing an increasing variety of events through the space and its Prisma Health Amphitheater.

Last year’s Fallfest segued into this year’s Springfest Music and Arts Festival coming up in May. In addition to the fall and spring festivals, the town kicks off a free concert series with Irmo Alive After Five

The concert series is structured to be an after-work event where people can network, hang out and have a beer, according to LNM Promotions organizer Larry Watts. 

Watts and his friend Mark Passmore were invited to be part of the events committee for the town and brought up the idea for the Alive After Five series and extended it into putting on the new festivals in the spring and fall .

“[Fallfest] started as a showcase for songwriters, " Watts said. “We didn’t know much about festival events but we started the Fallfest with musicians and vendors, and the town asked us to do it again.”

The concert series will also feature food trucks on site.

Watts and Passmore hope to continue the concert series and festivals moving forward.

“What’s good for the town is good for business,” Passmore said. 

While the original lot at the Community Park offers limited parking, the town alleviated the issue with a recent land purchase, adding 250 spots.

Generating more events in town is an emphasis for Mayor Barry Walker.

“The events committee is doing a fantastic job,” he said, noting that the town started the committee two years ago when he became mayor. “They ran with my idea.”

While the pandemic limited their vision, they slowly started putting on more events.

Already this year, Community Park has hosted a chili cook off and car show in January and another car show for St. Patrick's day earlier this month.

“Every month, there is a major event at the park or in the Irmo area to get people out and involved,” Walker said.

Watts’ band Natalie and the Boys plays the first Alive After Five concert on March 3. The series is set to repeat on April 13, May 25, Aug. 24 and Sept. 21.

“It’s an event to get people out and socialize and meet and greet,” the mayor said of the town’s new concert series. “This is all part of the master plan put forth by the events committee. It brings the community out.”