The Neighborhood Events liked the neighborhood it found at B&O Station.

The group’s annual The Block Party returns to the Youngstown venue on Saturday. Past attendees will notice some tweaks for the sixth annual event, but they’re mostly minor changes.

“We’re keeping it pretty much the same as last year,” said Alison Green, one of the founders of Neighborhood Events along with Mikey Caraballlo and Danny Svenson. “I feel like this last year has been harder on downtown with all the construction continuously going on, so we thought it was really important to still do the event.”

The party runs from 4 to 11 p.m. Saturday, and this year its vendors market will be open for the entire event, instead of only being open the first few hours, in order to give the participants more time to sell their goods.

Music remains the primary draw, and this year’s headliner will be Youngstown’s The Labra Brothers.

“They’ve helped with the event all six years, and they just normally have a very busy summer schedule, so we’ve never been able to book them in the past, because they’ve always had other shows that day or the night before,” Green said. “It just worked out perfectly to have them headline for this year,”

Svenson also plays keyboards for the Labra Brothers whenever there isn’t a schedule conflict with his other band, Spirit of the Bear.

The rest of the lineup includes Ames Harding & the Mirage, Jul Big Green, Riley Burke, The Goners and Double Quincey

“Ames Harding & the Mirage, they’re coming out from Pittsburgh. Mikey is actually neighbors with them, so it kind of worked out great,” Green said. “They’ve played a lot of our events before.

“The Goners, I know a lot of members are also with a band called Sedona, which we have worked with in the past, and then Jul Big Green is another person we’ve been trying to work with for a long time. He’s based out of Cleveland, and he does some amazing work. We’ve been trying to get him on The Block Party for the last four years now, so this is kind of a perfect storm for us.

“Double Quincy, they have played our Christmas parties, I believe, and our Halloween parties in the past. And then Riley Burke is just amazing. And we saw her at Federal Frenzy and it was like, we’ve just got to have her, so we’re very, very excited for the lineup this year.”

Last year organizers added a “tipping” option to advance and day-of ticket purchases that allowed attendees to leave a tip for their favorite act or for all of the performers. Green said they decided not to continue it. It worked well for online advance sales but created confusion for those paying at the gate.

“We found it was easier all around to just work with the bands on the back end and pay them more in their contract to make sure y that they were getting what they wanted, instead of doing the tip jar and trying to find a middle ground,” Green said.

Organizers also moved a little closer to their ultimate goal of making The Block Party a free event to attend. Last year, admission was $10 in advance and $15 at the gate. This year, it’s $10 regardless of when tickets are purchased.

Last year’s party drew about 500 people. Green said they’re hoping for about 600 people this year. While the goal is to be outdoors, but being at B&O provides a backup option.

“If it does look like it’s going to be rainy or uncomfortable outside, we’re going to be moving inside the B&O and using all of their levels, so that 600 number, I think, will still pretty comfortably between their main area, the Youngstown Room, their patios and that front outdoor space.”

If you go …

WHAT: The Block Party with The Labra Brothers, Ames Harding & the Mirage, Jul Big Green, Riley Burke, The Goners and Double Quincey.

WHEN: 4 to 11 p.m. Saturday.

WHERE: B&O Station, 530 Mahoning Ave., Youngstown.

HOW MUCH: $10 with tickets available in advance through Eventbrite. For more information, go to theneighborhoodevents.com/tbp.

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