Abbot Kinney First Fridays

Abbott Kinney is a famous street in Venice. To be totally accurate Abbot Kinney was a developer and conservationist who designed Venice (in LA).  But now there is a street names after him.  The street is filled with galleries, shops, restaurants, and of course a great area for events.  One of the events is the Abbott Kinney First Fridays which is Venice's version of an Art Walk. Since I've had so much success with Art Walks around the city in the past I thought this would be no different.

We arrived a little before 6 (the event is from 6-10) and had some trouble finding parking.  Anyone that knows anything about Venice knows parking is always a hassle.  When there is an event going on, it's even more of a pain.  It took about 20 min to find a place maybe 5 blocks away from the main street which wasn't too bad.  When we arrived on the boulevard it wasn't as busy as I expected it to be.  The shops we went into were fairly empty and most of the people out were giving their attention to the food trucks.  We walked down the street and into a few galleries.  One gallery curator was particularly helpful telling us that the Art Walk use to be more lively, but it ended up turning into a bunch of drunken kids walking the streets, the cops were called, so the galleries stopped attracting people that would actually appreciate art.  They also stopped serving alcohol and the even went more away from an art walk. Now the food trucks have taken over and the street just becomes a food truck fair.  It sounded like some of the galleries and boutiques prefer not to have the event because it doesn't improve their business as it is intended to.

If you happen to be in Venice on the first Friday of the month, you might as well try to stop by, you may find some deals.  Otherwise, I wouldn't rush out for First Fridays.  It's not all that fun.