From electronic dance music nights to movie screenings, Nomad Pizza has a variety of new events in their calendar for this October. The wood-fire pizza restaurant decided to host new community events with the goal of reaching a wider audience and creating a hub of energy in Brunswick.

Having grown up in Brunswick, Events Coordinator Keith Carlon said that he wanted to bring more social opportunities to town with new programming. Other than going to bars, Carlon did not see many opportunities for nightlife in Brunswick. The restaurant’s new events initiative started after Carlon planned the first dance party at Nomad.

“I spent some time traveling and living abroad across the country, and I was pretty fortunate to have a lot of experiences, as far as just the types of entertainment media that I was able to consume and enjoy,” Carlon said. “When I came back … it felt like it could be more inclusive for people under the age of 50. I don’t want to dig on Brunswick too much, but having grown up here, it can be a little bit of a sleepy town. And it doesn’t always feel like there are really consistent good options for people in their twenties and thirties to go socialize.”

Other restaurants and bars, such as Bolo’s and Maíz, also seek to offer more late night social events. However, Carlon said Nomad stands out among the others because of their theater and larger venue. Their event space has a 250-person capacity, in addition to their movie theater and dining room area. Carlon hopes to take advantage of those spaces with weekly programming in the future.

“I think this is new territory for Nomad, in the sense that these are events that are recurrent, like the movie nights,” Carlon said. “My hope is really to have programming events at least three to four nights a week, out of the five nights a week that we’re open.”

According to Carlon, the restaurant has received a positive reaction from these new events so far. People ranging from their twenties to their sixties have attended movie nights, dance parties or comedy nights.

“Our most well attended event consistently has been our movie screening events. We hold that in the theater space here, and it’s been really great. Usually it’s once a month at 7 p.m., and that’ll typically sell out,” Carlon said. “Otherwise, the Nomad night’s party has been really well attended. I’d say we generally get anywhere between 100 to 150 people on average for the dance party.”

The restaurant has seen a good amount of students in Nomad this year and last for Homecoming Weekend, Parents Weekend and Alumni Weekend. But looking into the future, Nomad hopes to see more Bowdoin students at their events.

“We’re certainly interested in cultivating more of an inclusive space for students. We know that we’re a little ways away from campus, at the far end of Main Street, but we definitely would love to get students here at our door,” Carlson said. “We want this to be a really safe and inclusive space for all forms of entertainment and expression for all people, young and old, from near and far.”