I've only been to First Friday after it was taken over by Tony Hsieh of Zappos fame, so I can't compare it to the original festival. But I have now gone three times since November and have had a ton of fun every time.\n\nOn Casino Center between Charleston and Colorado, the street is closed and filled with artists, musicians, and food trucks. There is also a section of 3rd Street and the lot by Bar + Bistro closed down to make room for a few more vendors. Most of the downtown stores stay open late this night for your shopping pleasure.\n\nThe first thing I usually do is hit up a food truck to get something to munch on while I check out the art. Even if you have no intention of buying anything (like me) it's still fun to see what people have designed and how creative they can be. I always wind up feeling a little inspired.\n\nI grab some more food and then I'm off to look at more art, maybe walk into a gallery or the Gypsy Den, or check out some of the musicians. The last time we were there (February) we heard a guitar playing duo perform some really great covers of The Killers and Adele.\n\nThe first two times my husband and I went to First Friday it was bitterly cold and we got in pretty early (6ish). I think these two things factor into the crowd we've been seeing- not a ton of people and mainly younger couples with a few hipsters thrown in. But for the February event (which was warmer) we did notice a lot more people and a lot more high-school aged kids. I'm interested to know what the crowd will be like come June.\n\nWhile not perfect yet, I have to give props to Tony and his team for really making First Friday more accessible to the community. It's nice to have an event that caters to the locals and not all the tourists drinking down on the Strip. I can definitely seeing this growing and improving over time and really being a huge benefit to the Arts District.\n\nGet down to First Friday and support some local businesses and artists!
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