The first Port Orchard Waterfront Art Walk will take place from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. this Friday, with merchants and artists looking to create a regular event that is both an economic and social attraction.

Artists will set up in retail stores, restaurants and salons, all of which will stay open the extra hours. The idea is to get people to come downtown and see what stores are open, then return at a later date according to Port Orchard Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Coreen Haydock Johnson.

“It’s another opportunity for people to get out of their cars and see what’s available,” she said. “Everyone knows about the empty storefronts, what stores aren’t here anymore, but they don’t know what is here.”

Planners have taken care to work with existing events, planning to sponsor the Art Walk on the third Friday of each month throughout the summer.