Oakland First Fridays is an immersive art and community experience on the first Friday of each month from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. on Telegraph Avenue from West Grand to 27th Street. Oakland's KONO District springs to life with for this event, with galleries, artist collectives, street artists, local culinary artisans, performers, musicians, dancers, DJ’s, and poets gathering for Oakland First Friday events.
Thousands of people come from across the Bay Area and beyond to see and experience art, be inspired, eat great food, enjoy live music, and stroll through the amazing, eclectic city of Oakland. An economic impact report shows that the Oakland First Fridays has a major, positive economic impact on the KONO community.
Oakland First Fridays’ is produced by the Koreatown Oakland Community Benefit District (KONO), a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization.
True to its mission, Oakland First Fridays continues to seek ways to support Oakland entrepreneurs and artists through training programs. Oakland First Fridays has received several grants, including one from the California Arts Council to fund an artist incubator.
Oakland First Fridays regularly hosts community-centric events such as food drives, recycling campaigns, toy and clothing drives, and more. In collaboration with the KONO Community Benefit District, we also engage with the community to collect feedback on civic matters such as transportation and infrastructure in the Oakland neighborhood where we're based, and make recommendations to city organizations for improvements.
