Free Family Art Event in Las Vegas

My husband and I have a beautiful teenage daughter that we absolutely love to pieces! We love to take her places, but unfortunately, we are on a very tight budget. So the places we go tend to be free or inexpensive.

My daughter is a very talented artist, so I planned this trip as a surprise for her. As my husband was working at the time, I asked my mom to join us.

My mother and I took her to the First Friday Las Vegas Art Festival on 2/5/16 for some inspiration, and she loved it! 

The event is held on the first Friday of every month in the Arts District from 5 – 11pm. The event is free, so we were free to just walk around and soak in the art.

Parking

The only thing we were concerned about was parking, but we found the perfect spot really close in a small lot on Charleston and Casino Center Blvd. The sign said $10, but the lot attendant gave us an early bird discount and only charged us $5, which my mom paid for. This was definitely worth the convenience. Otherwise, we would have had to park somewhere along the street, in the Fremont parking garage, or the Clark County Government Center, which would have been a hike after all of the walking around we did at the event.

Only $5 to spend

We told her that she would be the leader on this little adventure, so she bolted for the art. We had to call out for her to slow down because she was so excited.

She had $5 of her own money to spend, and she found something she wanted to buy at the very first booth we stopped at. I told her to wait and look around first, and we could come back to what she really wanted.

Layout of the event

At first, it didn’t seem like there were very many booths, but the further we walked, we realized that they were spread out in several sections. Plus, there was a great deal more to gaze at inside the buildings.

Live entertainment

We stood to listen to a gifted young girl singing on stage. We noticed several people were painting on these enormous canvases on wooden pallets, so we stopped to watch for a bit.

Food

We quickly moved past all of the deliciously smelling food vendors because we didn’t want to spend any money, though the funnel cake was very tempting.

What did you see?

There were several tents featuring jewelry, homemade soaps, hand painted t-shirts, and other entrepreneurs showing off their wares. We admired the glass art at one of the craft booths, which was very reasonably priced for such beautiful craftsmanship.

We went inside a gift shop that had way too many wonderful things to look at, including a mesmerizing painted guitar hanging on the wall. Then we entered a hallway leading to a few small galleries where several clever artists had their paintings hanging.

Kids Zone

There was a small cage full of small animals to pet, including a hen, a rooster, some goats, and a rabbit. My daughter hung out at this station for quite a while. There were also several observers who brought their dogs, and one spectator was walking his ferret on a leash.

Next to the petting zoo was a Lego station, where they had huge boxes of Legos so you could put something together and then display your creation on the table for all to see. This station was quite a hit, because it was a very crowded table.

There was also a children’s craft table, mountain climbing, and an art gallery bus that you could board to see the art displayed inside.

What was your favorite part?

The best part of the Kid Zone was the drum circle! We sat in chairs in a big semicircle, and were each given a percussion instrument to play! There were bongo drums, bells, tambourines, wooden blocks to hit, shakers, and several other fun toys. The leader had a microphone, and he coordinated everyone with different hand signals. He even let some participants have solos. His assistant was having fun handing out the instruments to everyone, and she paraded the little ones around in the middle. She led the group with hand signals every so often to make it more interesting. This was so much fun and we got to play for a long time! 

Did your daughter get any inspiration?

Inside another building which had several art galleries, she got stuck in one room that was full of beautifully painted roses on canvas. She said she was fascinated by the beauty this painter had created. She talked to the salesperson who happened to be the artist’s friend. When the artist arrived, he graciously took the time to teach her a few techniques about painting.

So what did you buy?

We went back to the booth where we started so that she could get the stuffed animal that she wanted to buy for $5. But unfortunately, right before we got there, someone had just bought the one she wanted. “Boo!” she whispered. So she picked another one, a red crocheted anime-style bunny with big floppy ears, a fluffy yellow yarn tail, and two yellow horns, which cost $10. She only had $5, so I gave her the rest to make up the difference. She named him Rhino because of his cute little horns.

How long were you there?

My daughter was having fun and didn’t want to leave, but Mom and I were getting tired, hungry, and ready to go home and eat dinner.

We got there about 5:00 and left about 7:00 pm, and there was someone waiting for our parking space when we left.

How much did you spend?

We spent $5 each, so for a total of only $15, we all had a great time! 

My daughter told us in the car that she couldn’t wait to go home and start drawing! Mission accomplished!