Whew! Got done with a really busy but fun weekend. When I first moved to the area I noticed that the Phoenix area was completely devoid of cultural events/activities compared to other cities around the nation. This was after an article I read in the Arizona Republic about a Family from Chicago that moved to the Phoenix area for a job opportunity but moved back to Chicago because the Phoenix area was completely and utterly devoid of Cultural activities/events compared to Chicago. After living in this city for a while, and spending the majority of my life in Seattle and Southern California I would have to completely and utterly agree that the Phoenix area lacks the cultural events/activities that is essential for making a city great.
Granted, there are a few events (emphasis on few) around town that can be considered cultural activities and the First Friday Art walk in downtown Phoenix is one of them. When I first saw the Arizona Republic’s detailed map (below) of the First Friday Participants I was pretty shocked at the large amounts of participating galleries for this event.
I met up with a bunch of people at the event and focused on the area around 7th and Roosevelt, the majority of which was blocked off to traffic. In addition to all the galleries in the area, there were a ton of booths and other cool stuff set up (that wasn’t on the map). Some of the things that were going on were:
- An Elevated DJ spinning 80’s and 90’s R&B Tunes
- A Brazilian Jujitsu group singing and doing a display.
- A magician showing how he can handle springing a mouse trap on his tongue
Even though it was hotter than hell out that night, I had a blast and I’m going to keep going back to this event as it’s a GREAT way to spend the first part of your Friday night. This reminded me of the Bite of Seattle and Bumbershoot in Seattle in the sense that it was an event that people from all around the area loves to go to but it’s an event that it’s a Phoenix institution.
If you ever get a chance to go to a First Friday Art Walk, do it. This is one of the events that makes Phoenix a really cool city.
Here’s a really detailed map of the First Friday Participants along with bus routes to all of the goings on.
http://www.azcentral.com/flash/firstfriday/index.html
Popularity: 3% [?]
