Have any plans this weekend? Have an itch to get outside and listen to music? Well, you are in luck because the Down by Downtown Music Festival is back.

ROANOKE, Va. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a 200% spike in use of outdoor amenities in the Roanoke area. Now, a local nonprofit wants to raise money to repair, maintain and improve outdoors spaces so they arent worn down. We run the risk of loving our outdoor assets to death, said Roanoke Outside Foundation Director Pete Eshelman. The foundation started Project Outside, a fundraising campaign aimed at raising money to benefit outdoor amenities in the region. Ask yourself, How often are you using the trails, the rivers, the greenways? And then try to put a dollar value on that, said Eshelman.

"Outdoor recreation has proven to be a recession-proof industry and a driving force in the American economy," said Gov. Northam came to Carvins Cove Thursday to launch the new Department of Outdoor Recreation. Seeking to highlight tourism and promote outdoors business is something Pete Eshelman, Roanoke Regional Partnership outdoor branding director, knows well. It's a $22 billion a year industry in Virginia alone and the Roanoke Valley wants a big slice of it. "Together, these efforts will further position Virginia as the top outdoor state on the east coast and the natural fit for outdoor business," said Northam.