The tours are 45 minutes in length and bring the area to life with colorful stories. The fiestas offer a festive gathering of ethnic music and fun. Appropriately located here is LA's first fire house which has been converted to the Plaza Firehouse Museum . You'll also find the Old Plaza Church which is said to have been partially paid for with seven barrels of brandy. Off of the Plaza is Olvera Street .
Street vendors offer their Mexican crafts.
Head downtown toward the corporate high-rises and you will find the Music Center , the west coast's equivalent to New York's Lincoln Center. Within the Music Center is the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion , where the LA Philharmonic and Joffrey Ballet perform, and the Mark Taper Forum , where theater performances and literary readings take place. Little Tokyo is the heart of Southern California's Japanese-American community. Look for the Japanese Cultural Center as well as many fine ethnic restaurants. For a sample of Japanese culture, don't miss Nisei Week in August, with parades, dancing, festival food, tea ceremonies and more.