Lowell commissioners approve series of seasonal and one-day event permits for spring and summer

The Lowell City Commission on a unanimous voice vote approved a slate of permits and one-day alcohol licenses for local events and seasonal retail operations that city staff said are scheduled for April through June 2025.

Those approvals included a seasonal sidewalk-stand permit for La la Books at 185–189 Market Street, a busker festival in downtown Lowell proposed by Sofia Boucher to close portions of Middle and Palmer streets on May 10, and permits and temporary alcohol licenses tied to the Points of Light Lantern Celebration on May 3 at Ecumenical Plaza and Jefferson Street.

The commission also approved three one-day licenses for Aramark at the Tsongas Center for campus receptions; two one-day licenses for events at the Hellenic Center, 41 Broadway Street; a one-day all-alcohol license for a Chamber of Commerce networking event at Lowell Makes, 130 Western Ave.; and a pub-crawl license for the Mike McNeil Foundation’s Mike McNeil Crawl for a Cure on June 21 in downtown Lowell.

Commission Chair Howell called for motions on each agenda item. Motions and seconds were recorded as follows: La la Books (motion by Commissioner Krieger, second by Commissioner Tang), the busker festival (motion by Commissioner Krieger, second by Commissioner Mercier), the Lantern Celebration event permit (motion by Commissioner Mercier, second by Commissioner Tang), the Lantern Celebration alcohol license (motion by Commissioner Donoghue, second by Commissioner Krieger), Aramark requests (motion by Commissioner Mercier, second by Commissioner Tang), the Hellenic Center licenses (motion by Commissioner Donoghue, second by Commissioner Krieger), Lowell Makes (motion by Commissioner Mercier, second by Commissioner Donoghue) and the Mike McNeil pub crawl (motion by Commissioner Donoghue, second by Commissioner Tang). Each motion carried without recorded opposition.

Applicants who addressed the commission included Laura Lamar Anderson of La la Books; Sofia Boucher, organizer of the proposed busker festival; Lily Leonard and Laura Tavares for the Lantern Celebration; Rob Doris for Aramark at the Tsongas Center; Amanda Atinge for the Hellenic Center events; Andrea Wilcock for Lowell Makes; and Bob Sisson for the Mike McNeil Foundation. Several applicants noted past experience running the events or described expected attendance and staffing. For example, Andrea Wilcock said she anticipated about 20 people for the Lowell Makes networking event; Laura Tavares said Tip-certified bartenders would staff the Lantern Celebration alcohol area and that she had held the license in prior years.

No contested or controversial issues arose during those agenda items, and the commission’s votes were all carried on the record as “aye.”