text: I have only been to First Friday after it was taken over by Tony Hsieh of Zappos fame so I cannot compare it to the original festival But I have now gone three times since November and have had a ton of fun every timennOn Casino Center between Charleston and Colorado the street is closed and filled with artists musicians and food trucks There is also a section of rd 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 pleasurennThe 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 is still fun to see what people have designed and how creative they can be I always wind up feeling a little inspirednnI grab some more food and then I am 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 AdelennThe first two times my husband and I went to First Friday it was bitterly cold and we got in pretty early ish I think these two things factor into the crowd we have 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 highschool aged kids I am interested to know what the crowd will be like come JunennWhile not perfect yet I have to give props to Tony and his team for really making First Friday more accessible to the community It is 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 DistrictnnGet down to First Friday and support some local businesses and artists