The forecast for downtown LA this Sunday is sunny and clear, with a high around 80 degrees. It sounds like terrific weather for a walk or bike ride. It’s perfect timing as CicLAvia is returning to downtown. The free event will close a six-mile route to all cars from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. — leaving the streets open for walking, running, cycling, skating, and more.
This is CicLAvia’s 10th anniversary, and Chief Strategist Tafari Bayne says it’s revisiting the first-ever route: “It focuses on Main Street and Broadway. And then we're taking Seventh Street all the way over to MacArthur Park. And then Broadway into Chinatown. We call it ‘Heart of LA,’ and it’s one of our favorite neighborhoods to visit, right in the middle of the city.”
Organizers expect more than 50,000 people to take part in this weekend’s iteration of CicLAvia, which will open up streets from Chinatown and MacArthur Park to downtown and Boyle Heights for biking, skating, walking and more. Credit: CicLAvia.
Finding a locale that has significance to everyone in a sprawling city like Los Angeles is difficult. But Bayne says downtown fit the bill for the initial CicLAvia team.
“They wanted to find a way to do an event that kind of meant something to everybody, being a part of the city’s fabric,” he says. “And downtown LA is the heart of the city. A lot of our major business happens there, a lot of our culture is there, and it’s one of the oldest parts of the city as well.”
Sunday’s event will be organized around four different hubs: the Civic Center, MacArthur Park, Chinatown and Mariachi Plaza in Boyle Heights. Those sites will include entertainment, food and drink, games, a farmers market, and even a pop-up photo booth.
Bayne says they are expecting a big turnout: “Our average is about 50,000 per event. We're expecting more for this one. It’s hard to pin down exactly what the number is, but definitely more than 50,000.”
You can get more info at https://www.ciclavia.org/