ELKHART — Signs are everywhere that the 25th annual Elkhart Jazz Festival is almost here.

Downtown has started its transformation in anticipation of the festival’s kick off Friday afternoon. Business owners are washing windows, organizing their merchandise and sprucing up their storefronts while food vendors set up shop at Civic Plaza.

Part of Main Street from Marion to Franklin streets in front of the Lerner Theatre was barricaded and closed to traffic today, June 21, at 1 p.m. The street closure will extend farther north to Lexington Avenue this weekend after the festival begins.