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ITEM PHOTO BY SPENSER HASAK
By MATT DEMIRS
There ain’t no party like a Lynn party.
Beyond Walls and the Downtown Lynn Cultural District will host their “Rock the Block” celebration beginning 1 p.m. Saturday on Mount Vernon Street to cap off a successful 10-day mural festival that’s brought a community together.
Hundreds of people, faces old and new, have perused the city streets, to see the beautiful murals changing the look of the downtown. And now it’s time to party.
Beyond Walls founder and executive director, Al Wilson, is expecting thousands of people from the North Shore and Boston to join the celebration.
Mount Vernon Street will be closed at 10 a.m., in addition to street closings between Union Street and Spring Street.
Bag checks will be done by the Lynn Police Department at all entrances.
There will be four bands playing between 1-5 p.m. The live bands are Foxes, Rival Island, Set the Nation, and What Cheer? Brigade.
The DJs are Noel Snow, ThinkDank, J-Wall, and Sisko, who will be posted on a 25-foot boom lift over the crowd and swap out every hour after 5 p.m to deliver a variety of music.
The What Cheer? Brigade, the Providence street band, is set to bring the noise by leading a procession to some of the mural sites at 5 p.m., beginning from Mount Vernon Street and returning to the party shortly thereafter.
There will also be henna and temporary body art available, as well as a live art installation being created by Lynn graffiti artist and Beyond Walls muralist, Temp, on the DJ tower.
Bent Water Brewery will be supplying the only alcohol available.
The food trucks rolling into the party will be Walloon’s, Sach Ko, Daddy’s Bonetown Burgers, and Frozen hoagies.
The North Shore Community College Lynn campus will have parking at no charge, while the MBTA garage is another option, but costs $4 for the day.
For those coming from Boston or neighboring areas, a 15 percent discount will be given for people choosing to use the Uber ride service from the Wonderland station in Revere by using the discount code “BeyondWalls.”
Local businesses are also prepared for festivities, such as the White Rose Coffeehouse, which will be hosting its latest art exhibit from 5-7 p.m., followed by karaoke until midnight.
Not to mention it will be opening on Sunday, for people walking the downtown to see the finished murals.
The East Coast International Church will be giving out light refreshments at the MBTA entrance of Munroe St.
Kids will have programs, too, like arts and crafts and cornhole.
Throughout the week 20 artists have painted 15 murals on privately owned walls as part of Beyond Walls, whose vision seeks to revitalize space through street art.
And it’s done just that.
The festival is free of charge.
Matt Demirs can be reached at mdemirs@itemlive.com
