Each year in July the sidewalks are filled with tables and tents for Downtown Iowa City’s Annual Sidewalk Sales, a tradition that began in 1968. Shoppers are invited to come downtown July 18 – 21 to experience the four-day savings extravaganza, which begins on a Thursday and runs through the evening on Sunday. A long-standing tradition of the Iowa City Downtown and Northside Marketplace, there’s no better way to see the best of what downtown merchants have to offer.