CITY OF KATY (Covering Katy News)—The City of Katy is set to host its first Katy Exchange, which will be from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday at the Historic Downtown Square. The event is free and open to the public.
Visitors and shoppers can enjoy artists, attractions, crafts, food trucks, games and live music according to Kaci Maris.
Maris said the exchange will have about 100 vendor booths. .
“What we’re just trying to do is to bring a new series of events downtown that allows some local vendors down here, but more so is another type of event for families and community to come out and actually shop the downtown businesses,” Maris said. “Our emphasis is going to be what we have to offer downtown. Instead of a full-blown market for vendors to come in and sell their products, this is more the emphasis is more so on our local downtown businesses.”
A second change involves getting to the event. Visitors and shoppers can park near the downtown square as in the past. Now, they can also ride a new, city-owned trolley that will run between the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 9182, 6202 George Bush Dr., and downtown.
Maris said city leaders have long discussed buying and using a trolley for Katy. She said the ideal was for the trolley to take visitors from downtown to all the city’s popular establishments, as well as Katy Mills Mall and the Katy Boardwalk District when it gets finished.
“We have high hopes for our trolley system,” Maris said. “But right now, the trolley is being used for special events. It’s going to be going from downtown to the museum row, so to take people over to the VFW Museum as well as the Katy Heritage Museum and the heritage homes.”
Profits from the exchange will help local charities. This month, the proceeds will help the Katy VFW Post 9182 and Camp Hope’s PTSD Foundation of America. Representatives from each branch of the U.S. military will be in attendance.
“Because the vendors sign up and they pay a booth fee, those booth fees are going into the Chamber of Commerce,” Maris said. “We have partnered with the Chamber of Commerce because they’re a nonprofit. Our partnership with the Chamber of Commerce, through its foundation, those proceeds will go into our bank account with the foundation and the foundation will be the one to write out the checks of the proceeds to those nonprofits.”
The band Breakfast at Tiffany’s will provide live music.
“They’re really great,” Maris said. “They’re just a fun, fun band, and they were great at the Katy Rice Harvest Festival. People really enjoyed them, and we are going to go ahead and bring them back out.”
Twins Taverna and No Label Brewing will provide a bar for morning mimosas, craft cocktails and beer.
The exchange will also feature the soft opening of the Katy Visitors Center, 5718 2nd St.
“The visitor center will also have a soft opening and it’ll be the same hours,” Maris said, adding that both the VFW Museum and the Johnny Nelson Heritage Museum will also be staying open during the same hours.
“We want people to visit all the places that we have here in downtown Katy,” Maris said.