On Thursday, October 29, the Alamo Band plays Ram Cat Alley from 7 to 9 p.m. That is the last night of the 2026 Jazz on the Alley season. The regional events calendar lists the City of Seneca's series every Thursday from April 2 through October 29, so October 29 is the final date of a run that has filled the alley every week since spring.
During those months a downtown weeknight took no planning. You showed up on a Thursday and the street was already closed and set for the evening. Once the music stops, downtown's evenings come down to a few marked dates, and the building meant to give the alley a reason to stay busy in winter has no opening date yet.
Three Thursdays Left on Ram Cat Alley
The City of Seneca posted its October lineup on September 29, 2026. Three shows remain:
| Thursday | Band | Time |
|---|---|---|
| October 15 | The Odyssey Band | 7 to 9 p.m. |
| October 22 | Funk Factory 5 | 7 to 9 p.m. |
| October 29 | Alamo Band | 7 to 9 p.m. |
The details are the same as all season. The concerts are free. The Downtown Seneca Merchants Association places them at the intersection of Ram Cat Alley and Townville Street. Visit Oconee says Ram Cat Alley and North Townville Street both close to cars during the event. The City puts out tables and chairs, but those can fill, so Visit Oconee suggests bringing your own chair. Restaurants, food trucks and beverage vendors work the event. The regional calendar also suggests packing a snack or eating outdoors at one of the alley's restaurants.
If you go for dinner too, the Downtown Seneca Merchants Association directory lists these businesses within a short walk of the music:
- Ram Cat Cellars, 124 B Ram Cat Alley
- Brews on the Alley, 109 Ram Cat Alley
- First Chapter Bookshop, 117 Ram Cat Alley
- Keowee Brewing Company, 401 E. Main St.
Directory listings don't always keep up with changes, so check a business's hours before planning around it.
After October 29, the Calendar Comes Down to Dates
For most of the year, the alley's busiest weeknight repeats on its own. From November on, downtown Seneca's events are single dates you mark ahead of time. These are the ones on the calendar now, along with the nearby Oconee County events that fall in the same weeks:
- Walhalla Oktoberfest, October 16 to 18. The festival brings German food, live music, crafts and carnival rides to Walhalla, starting the day after the Odyssey Band show.
- Keowee Marina's Fall Festival, Sunday, October 25, 1 to 4 p.m. It's free, with games, candy, vendors, a DJ and costumes.
- Halloween on the Green, Saturday, October 31, 5 to 8 p.m. This is the City's trick-or-treat night and costume contest for children 12 and under, held rain or shine. It falls two days after the last jazz show and is the first downtown date after the series ends.
- The Magic of Christmas Annual Christmas Parade, November 30, 6 p.m. November 30, 2026, falls on a Monday, so this year's parade is a weeknight event. Entry is free, but registration is online only and closes at midnight on November 20. Entries that haven't registered will be turned away. Check-in and lineup start at 4 p.m. at the Old Seneca Middle School, entering off E. Perkins.
- Christmas on the Farm at Chattooga Belle Farm, Saturday, December 12. The Long Creek farm plans vendors, live music, festive drinks and food.
The Blue Ridge Arts Center in Seneca also has an exhibit opening reception on Friday, November 20, at 5:30 p.m., the same day parade registration closes.
The holiday light show isn't on the list because no 2026 dates have been published. Last year, Visit Oconee listed it from November 21 through December 31. Treat those as 2025 dates until the City announces this season's schedule.
Count it up and downtown Seneca has two City-hosted evenings, Halloween on the Green and the parade, between the last jazz show and the end of the year. All season, the series put an event on the alley every week.
Errands Moved to Sandifer Boulevard
While downtown's calendar thins, the biggest change in Seneca's everyday routine this year happened west of downtown. Target opened in Thornwell Village at 1810 Sandifer Blvd. this summer. WYFF described a roughly 128,855-square-foot store with 151 employees, a Starbucks Café, a CVS Pharmacy and an Apple Shop.
The opening date depends on whether you count the soft opening. WGOG reported on July 22 that the Bobcat band played and the Seneca High cheerleaders cheered as the doors opened "late yesterday afternoon," with a long line of shoppers waiting in the sun, a short way west of the Seneca Walmart. Target's corporate fact sheet gives July 26 as the official opening.
Watch for news on the rest of Thornwell Village, but don't plan around it yet. The Journal reported on a project document that named Harris Teeter as an anchor alongside Target. The same document listed Academy Sports, Chipotle, Chili's, Swig, Aloha Nails, Vicious Biscuit and Kay Jewelers as pre-leased or under letters of intent. 7 Brew, Rack Room Shoes, Tropical Smoothie Café and Great Clips appeared on the rent roll, and Olive Garden appeared on the site plan. The Journal noted that the document gave no projected opening dates for any of them. We found no public confirmation of an opening date for any tenant besides Target.
The Building Meant to Keep Main Street Busy in Winter
The project designed to give downtown a reason to fill up when there's no concert is Seneca Social Co. at Harper's Plaza, 233 Main St. When it was announced in August 2025, the Upstate Business Journal described dining, duckpin bowling, arcade games and sports simulators, with a groundbreaking expected within two months and a grand opening planned for 2026.
The most recent public update came this spring. In an April 28, 2026, story headlined "A hedge on when Seneca gets a game-changer," WGOG reported that Jacob Lawler "chose his words carefully" when asked when the space would open. WGOG described the plan as duckpin bowling, an arcade and a restaurant with a speakeasy. The night before, the city's Board of Architectural Review had taken about 20 separate votes on certificates of appropriateness. It approved most of them and turned down two requests, tinted windows and repainting the brick on a Main Street building that dates to 1940.
An earlier Journal report named Greg Levi as owner and Lawler as general manager. It said structural issues had come up and projected an opening sometime in 2026, depending on the construction schedule. We found no published opening date since the April review. With less than three months left in the year, the 2026 target remains a forecast, not a schedule.
That's why this fall matters on Main Street. Once the jazz series ends on October 29, downtown Seneca has Halloween on the Green, the November 30 parade, and whatever light show dates the City announces. Seneca Social Co. is the first downtown project built to draw people on an ordinary weeknight with no event on the calendar, and opening it depends on finishing construction inside historic district guidelines the review board has already applied in detail.
Some of us at Cooper Dalrymple spend as much time on job sites as at listing appointments, so we keep a close eye on projects like the one at 233 Main. If you want to know when Seneca Social Co. sets an opening date, or when the next Thornwell Village tenant opens its doors, join our Be the First to See It list. We'll pass along the news as soon as it's public.
