Over 11 years and 570 episodes, John Rabe and Team Off-Ramp scoured SoCal for the people, places, and ideas whose stories needed to be told, and the show became a love-letter to Los Angeles. Now, John is sharing selections from the Off-Ramp vault to help you explore this imperfect paradise.
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Fun fact: the Broadway Theater District in Downtown is the first and largest theater district in the country, according to the Register of Historic Places. To this day it is the only large concentration of movie palaces left in the United States, with 12 theaters in a six block radius.
Night on Broadway is a free arts and music street festival, dedicated to educating and enjoying the city's historic neighborhood. This year's festival will open the doors of 6 historic theaters and provide 11 venues in total to enjoy dance parties, comedy, art installations, docent-led tours, and lectures. There will even be a dodgeball competition with open sign-ups.
The event sprang from LA councilmember José Huizar's "Bringing Back Broadway" economic development initiative. In 2008, Huizar said he wanted to share the historic corridor with younger Angelenos who did not have the chance to see the theaters during their peak. In 2015, Night on Broadway was born as a street festival to excite the community about the neighborhood's history and potential. Over 35,000 attended the first celebration. In 2016, over 60,000 attended. Organizers are expecting to nearly double attendance again this year.
Fig4All.org hails the event as a "love letter to the history, culture, and future of Los Angeles."
The event runs along Broadway from 3rd street to Olympic from 4pm to 11pm. Organizers are recommending public transit for the event, as parking is very limited. The Red Line Pershing Square stop is very close to the event area. More info can be found on the Night on Broadway website.