Jake Nelson performed for the first Marshall Eats and Beats event of the year, playing a variety of country music.

MARSHALL — Country music singer Jake Nelson sat on the stage guitar in the middle of 3rd Street entertained the crowd that showed up for the Eats and Beats event Thursday evening.

“Thank you everyone for coming out tonight,” he said.

The city of Marshall hosted its first “Eats and Beats” event of the year. Eats and Beats is a weekly community get-together where anyone can come by, enjoy live music and buy food and drinks from the various local restaurants.

“My favorite part so far is the drinks,” said Ben Powers, one attendee at the event. “They keep them ice cold.”

According to Cassie Weiss, the director of Visit Marshall, who heads the Eats and Beats events, the goal is to get people out of their house and into their community. Her hope for putting the event on Thursday night is to give tourists a chance to see the event on Thursday then stay in Marshall on Friday, as well as give local businesses more opportunities to engage with the community.

“Part is like bringing people downtown right now with construction,” Weiss said. “We really need people to support our businesses who are affected by that.”

Future Eats and Beats will be held on June 25, July 9, 16 and 23 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. This week’s event will have a performance from Tracy artist Kayla Daniels.