Abbot Kinney First Fridays & Venice Sign Lighting on December 4, 2015
It’s a Double Dose of Holiday Events in Venice on the same night! The LAST First Friday of 2015 takes place front and center from 6-10pm and the Venice Sign Lighting starts at 6:15pm. Check out both within walking distance! Just Added Food Trucks!
First Friday– December 4, 2015 6-10pm
It’s your last chance to check out 1st Fridays so head on over to Abbot Kinney Blvd between Venice Blvd and Westminster Ave for food trucks, shopping, popup store openings plus the bar and restaurant scene.
The newest popup on the scene, Merican Made opens with a bang! There’s an opening party (rsvp only-see below), photo booth and boatloads of cool new apparel and accessories by Aptemal Clothing, Graphic Anthology, Androgyny, Chocolate and Steel and Kahoy Kollection to name a few. The popup is inside Milkmade, 1413 Abbot Kinney Blvd, a retail store that’s been around for awhile as far as Abbot Kinney goes.
Merican Made will be serving small bites and drinks while a DJ spins some tunes from 6-9. Wags and Walks, a local dog rescue and one of the beneficiaries of our pop up, will have a kissing booth. A donation will get you a smooch from a cute and adoptable pup! Also featuring a photography exhibit by Tim Langridge, a Venice local. The store is closer to the Venice end of the boulevard, fyi.
Free, but you MUST RSVP at this special link to attend the party!
More NEW places to Shop & Eat on Abbot Kinney Boulevard!
Last month we checked out more new stores and popups galore! A few of our picks here. L.Angels is a new boutique by a Venice Local has an eclectic mix of accessories, apparel and gift items. It’s a little way down from Merican Made & Milkmade heading west on the same side of the street.
Next door, you will encounter some of the coolest shoes ever at John Fluevog. We loved the shoe boots that harken back to the 80’s and the lovely turquoise collection of shoes. As you continue down the street you’ll see the regulars, as in shops that have been there for 5 years or more, such as Alternative, featuring soft, comfy clothing made from organic fabric – open til 7pm. Keep walking and you’ll reach The Other Room, a bar on AK for 10 years with lotsa brews.
Cross the street and you’ll see VNYL, the new record store on Abbot Kinney that actually has vinyl and a subscription related service. They’re usually spinning some tunes on First Fridays and sometimes host fun events.
Keep on walking, oh yeah, and eating. There’s plenty of food trucks to choose from while you’re at it.
See a recent post for our food truck & First Fridays faq.
Last month, we found a new doughnut and coffee shop that’s open til midnight, (as you continue walking from VNYL toward Venice)! There was a line there and apparently good reason for it! It’s Blue Star Donut and Coffee. A friend told us the raspberry doughnut was the best effing doughnut ever! The AKFF team is sure to try one soon!
Keep walking and eventually you’ll get to 5 Points in its new popup location, close to Palms. They are leading a new creative trend on Abbot Kinney with cool classes you can take to make things. Check out the drawing bar on First Friday and get your creativity on! Abbot Kinney First Fridays has more to offer than food trucks, so put on your walking shoes! Walk to this next event…
Just Added: Party at 1st Fridays on Abbot Kinney Boulevard!
Cuyana made its debut this summer on Abbot Kinney in its popup location at 1140 Abbot Kinney Blvd and they are back in the same location permananently and celebrating with a Re-Opening Party at 1st Fridays!
Local caterer Plant Food & Wine will be catering our event and California based Perfumery and shoppers have the chance to receive a gift from By Rosie Jane. Cuyana features beautiful women’s apparel and accessories.
Food Trucks at 1st Fridays – Just Added!
Piaggio on Wheels, The Lobos Truck, Pizza & Co, Richeeze, Paninissimo, Komodo truck, Waffles de Liege, Rolln Lobster, Street Kitchen LA, SteamyBunTruck, Burnt to a Crisp Texas Smokehouse, Comet BBQ, The Pudding Truck, Sabores de Mexico, Tender Grill Gourmet Brazilian Kitchen, Salt & Straw, Sanook Soi 88, Sweet Amsterdam, L.A. Wing Co, Middle Feats, Swamis Sandwiches, Chunk-n-Chip, Sweet E’s Bakeshop, Wings N Waffles, Pirozhki LA.
The 4th Annual Venice Sign Lighting!
This new Venice tradition starts at 6:15 with booths from various businesses, a toy drive and music by the VSO, Venice Symphony Orchestra! This is a fun event that the AKFF Blog loves attending!
The VSO features 30 musicians playing instruments ranging from electric guitar to violins and trumpets, playing it Venice style, while performing holiday favorites and VSO standards. Each year, there is a special celebrity guest (identity kept secret until the event) with the first one featuring Robert Downey, Jr. and the last one featuring Pink to help flip the giant switch to turn the Venice Sign into a Christmas theme coloring of red and green! 
The actual sign lighting is slated for 8pm, so make sure to get over to Windward Av at Pacific, where the block will be shutdown to traffic. Just look for there crowd there. See our Venice and Santa Monica Holiday Events Post for more details on the Venice Sign Lighting and the Montana Ave Stroll on the same night and more!