East Village, Long Beach, California

East Village Arts District is the name of the eastern half of Downtown Long Beach, California. The borders are Ocean Blvd. to the south, Long Beach Blvd. to the west, 7th Street to the north, and Alamitos Avenue to the east. In 2007, the border of the East Village was expanded north to 10th Street.

The East Village is a mix of many different housing types, including high-rise condos, artist lofts and small craftsman cottages, as well as people many different cultures, income levels, and professions. The neighborhood has many independent stores selling everything from designer denim and specialty sneakers to used books and mid-century furniture. There are coffee shops which serve food, and restaurants featuring everything from crepes and sushi to chicken n' waffles. The East Village is also the city's arts district, with most of the independent shops, restaurants and galleries exhibiting work by Long Beach and Southern Californian artists.

Besides the regular bus services going to other parts of Long Beach, Long Beach Transit has a free "Village Tour D'art" going through the East Village that stops at the Long Beach Performing Arts Center and the Long Beach Sports Arena (which has one of Wyland's Whaling Walls), the 1926 Art Deco Breakers Hotel, the Museum of Latin American Art, the Oceanic Art Museum and gallery, several local historical churches, the City Place and Long Beach Promenade shopping centers, and the restaurants and shops on Pine Avenue in the West Village.

The East Village Arts District is home to the "Second Saturday Art Walk" [http://artwalklb.com/] every month, featuring art receptions and special events in the shop and galleries of the District. The District is home to "Tour des Artistes", an annual street festival event in June which features visual artists in every discipline, as well as performing artists ranging from singer-songwriters to Shakespeare.

The East Village Arts District is also home to "Soundwalk" [http://www.soundwalk.org] , a unique sound art festival, which began in 2004. "Soundwalk" is a series of site-specific sound installations and sound art performances and attracts renowned sound artists from around the world.

External links

* [http://www.soundwalk.org Soundwalk (annual sound art festival)]
* [http://artwalklb.com Second Saturday (monthly art walk)]
* [http://www.myspace.com/artwalkLBC Second Saturday MySpace page]