First Friday

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By Scott Den Herder · August 10, 2009 · 11:35 p.m.

First Friday in the Las Vegas Arts District brings together a wide variety of art, music and people. With so many types of art on display at First Friday, we wondered how people would define something so broad. So we decided to ask a few people to tell us their own definition of art.

Steph Littlebird poses for a photo with their painting titled Goddess of the Blossoms Wednesday, Nov. 3, 2021.

Indigenous artist’s work to be featured at First Friday artwalk: Friday, November 5, 2021; By Arleigh Rodgers; Steph Littlebird’s work revolves around the Indigenous artist’s identities — spiritual, cultural and gender. Littlebird, who is the First Friday featured artist for November, identifies as two-spirit, a masculine and feminine identity and a label used by Indigenous people to reference their gender, sexual or spiritual identities …

People check out craft booths during First Friday in downtown Las Vegas Friday, September 7, 2018.

First Friday street event returns to Downtown Las Vegas April 2: Thursday, March 18, 2021; By Geoff Carter; It's been a long year of streaming events and muted arts openings, but on April 2, the First Friday art walk and street festival makes a tentative return to the Arts District—live music, food trucks, arts installations and all.

Denette Braud owns Funnel Cake Cafe and has won the Urban Chamber of Commerce 2013 “Micro Business of the Year” and Bite of Las Vegas “Best Bites” awards.

From strawberries to s’mores, funnel cake business dishes out dessert in Las Vegas: Sunday, May 17, 2015; By VEGAS INC Staff; The Funnel Cake Cafe is a mobile business specializing in gourmet funnel cakes, from the traditional strawberry and whip to the not-so-traditional bacon, banana split, peach cobbler, s’mores and more ...

Joseph Guadamuz dj’s his No Pop No Style art show inside Solsis Gallery.

A creative complex rises: A look inside the galleries, shops and studios of Downtown Spaces: Thursday, March 12, 2015; By Leslie Ventura; Taxidermy, sex toys, a recording studio, galleries and (soon) a marijuana dispensary—it's all under one roof.

The Las Vegas Steampunk Guild members dance about during First Friday activities as they present a Steampunk Wonderland art competition on Friday, August 1, 2014.

First Friday cancels January outdoor activities due to weather: Tuesday, December 30, 2014; By Mark Adams; Galleries and neighborhood venues hold down the festival fort on January 2.

See all the gory details of Goldman's Home Sweet Home dioramas at Downtown's Trifecta Gallery.

‘Home Sweet Home’ dioramas illustrate America’s obsession with violence: Wednesday, November 5, 2014; By Kristen Peterson; The exhibit features scenarios so over the top you want to laugh—and so real you want to cry.

Outside the box: Nicky Watts' Isolation.

Boxed in: Performance artist Nicky Watts explores emotional isolation: Wednesday, March 5, 2014; By Kristen Peterson; Catch the socially experimental exhibit at Brett Wesley this month.

Local artists help fundraise for autism with painted skateboards

Local artists help fundraise for autism with painted skateboards: Monday, December 16, 2013; By Leslie Ventura; Local kids' passion for skating gets turned into one-of-a-kind artwork at the City of the World gallery.

Metro Police Capt. Shawn Andersen poses at the Downtown Area Command on Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2013.

Downtown's top cop takes a look at how crime's changing with area's renaissance: Q&A with Metro Police Capt. Shawn Andersen:; Friday, October 4, 2013; By Jackie Valley; For the past nine months, Metro Police Capt. Shawn Andersen has been the guy in charge of police downtown, which includes the ever-popular and growing bar scene. This spring, East Fremont Street welcomed several new hangouts; later this year completion of the Downtown Container Park will add more choices to the mix. Police estimate downtown events and bars draw thousands more people to the area — with a palpable increase in just the past six months. Downtown’s renaissance has sparked excitement along with safety fears, propelling police and city leaders to look for solutions.

Metro Officer Jason Deel patrols in the Fremont East District on Friday, July 5, 2013.

Joe Downtown: One bad side effect of downtown resurgence — barricades may be permanent fixture on First Friday nights: Joe Downtown:; Tuesday, September 24, 2013; By Joe Schoenmann; Cattle barricades might be coming to the Fremont Street Experience. If you don’t like that, blame downtown’s resurgent popularity.

Chalk messages, such as this one, were written on sidewalks outside the Metro Police Headquarters and the Regional Justice Center.

Chalk protesters' lawyer says First Amendment favors his clients: Friday, August 16, 2013; By Bethany Barnes; A First Amendment battle is looming in Clark County District Court, and the attorney for four Las Vegas protesters facing anti-graffiti charges says you can chalk it up to overzealous law enforcement.

Live penguins are on display at "antARTica," a blocklong section of Casino Center Boulevard that was transformed into an ice-themed 3-D street mural for First Friday on Aug. 2, 2013.

A welcome chill comes to downtown's First Friday: the arts:; Saturday, August 3, 2013; By Delen Goldberg; Downtown Las Vegas was transformed into a winter wonderland as penguins and icebergs took over this month’s First Friday celebration. With August notoriously one of the smallest months for turnout, organizers of the downtown art festival chose to rearrange the vendor-heavy event into a block-long Arctic-themed art installation, complete with glaciers, whales and a soundscape. The gallery stretched down Casino Center Boulevard, from California Avenue to Colorado Avenue.

Hall & Oates -- Daryl Hall and John Oates -- perform at the Joint in the Hard Rock Hotel on Thursday, Sept. 20, 2012.

Weekend best bets: Kathy Griffin, Hall & Oates and First Friday: Thursday, August 1, 2013; By Andrea Domanick; August is here, and with it comes a slate of new summer events. Start off your month right this weekend with plenty of live music offerings from touring acts and locals alike — or maybe just kick back with a good, old-fashioned Tupperware party. Here’s a look at the weekend’s best bets.

A look at First Friday's "antARTica" art installation the night before the opening, Friday, August 2, 2013.

First Friday goes frozen in August with 'antARTica': Wednesday, July 31, 2013; By Kristen Peterson; Carved Styrofoam penguins. What more do you need to know?

A look at First Friday, the celebration of Arts held in the Las Vegas downtown Arts District Friday, August 5, 2011.

Joe Downtown: First Friday to undergo dramatic shift next month: Friday, July 12, 2013; By Joe Schoenmann; A downtown event that has drawn upwards of 30,000 people one night each month is changing direction in August. Organizers plan to set up a winter streetscape and either eliminate vendors in tents or shift them north to provide more visibility to local galleries and businesses.

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First Friday

What: Monthly arts celebration in downtown Las Vegas
When: First Friday of each month
Where: Downtown Arts District; various stopping points include the Arts Factory at Main Street and Charleston Boulevard and the Funk House at Colorado Avenue and Casino Center Boulevard
Admission: Free
History: It started in 2002 as an art crawl, or monthly block party, that included downtown galleries and businesses.
Web page: FirstFriday-LasVegas.org