Going to Vegas?

Want something to do that's off the beaten path?

Check out First Friday,an art event the first Friday of every month. Yes!! Las Vegas has art and it thrives on First Friday.

The hub of First Friday is the Arts Factory on the East side of the Strip on Charleston Blvd. The Arts Factory, a refurbished 1944 warehouse, is home to a number of artist studios. In fact, you can begin your walking tour there. Bring your map.

Here's a sampling from the First Friday site:

People across the world pay good money to spend time at the sauna, sweating out toxins. Well guess what? You LIVE in a sauna at no extra cost during the month of August, and what better time to revel in the perspiration celebration than at First Friday, voted time and again the best cultural event in Las Vegas. The beer will pour in cooling streams, or there's plenty of Fat Daddy's pimped out ice cream for the kids. The smells of meaty street-festival fare will fill the air, from tacos to barbecue to shish kabobs. Plus, Hogs & Heifers Saloon has come to pasture in Las Vegas, and will have a tent out to meet and greet residents. The newly renovated Holsum Lofts are brimming with art and home decorating stores. The Art Bar will have a Battle of the Bands going on. The Get Back has moved to Beauty Bar. Clydesdale will perform at 10:30pm at Dino's. And who knows what else the night will bring? Jugglers, fire breathers, fortune tellers, toxins and toxin release. Come down and see for yourself.

For more Vegas side trips, check out The Underground Guide to Las Vegas, a book by Jarret Keene, editor of Citylife, one of the alternative weekly papers there.

You can see some of the artwork — and artists — I photographed at a recent First Friday at OC Hairball, a blogzine.
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