Anaheim Street came alive with pedestrians, skaters and bikers alike who took part in Beach Streets on Saturday morning.
Beach Streets, which is an open event that showcases local businesses and the culture of surrounding neighborhoods, was last held in downtown Long Beach in March.
In the past, Beach Streets has attracted about 40,000 people.
Street closures began at 6 a.m. and ended at 5:30 p.m., stopping traffic on a three-mile stretch between Pacific Coast Highway and Orange Avenue.
KBeach radio was present to represent both CSULB and student media in the area. They were located at the intersection of Anaheim Street and Obispo Avenue and gave away headphones, held a bike contest to pick the best-looking bike and raffled off gift cards to World Class Kitchen.
Moxi’s rollerskating was one of the many local businesses in attendance. Moxi volunteers set up a rollerskating rink in the parking lot of Farmers and Merchants Bank, allowing visitors from age six and up to roller skate for free.
Alfredo Banuelos, a junior philosophy student at CSULB, came out for the event with a few friends.
“I’m from Paramount and there, we don’t have anything like this. I’ll be attending more of these festivals in the future,” he said.
During his time there, he roller skated and hit up a local bar for lunch.
There were two festival hubs along the route, MacArthur Park and Recreation, which hosted cultural events for the community, such as spoken word, folkloric dances and local bands.
Pacific Coast Highway and Anaheim Street had two main attractions, a bike renting station and the LBCC Jazz Band.
The station is part of the new bike sharing program implemented earlier this year in the city, which allows the public to rent a bike for an hour using their credit card as payment.
Christopher Orozco, a junior psychology student at CSULB, experienced his first ever Beach Streets this weekend.
“This was the first year I had heard of the event, so I decided to come down from Downey and share the experience with a few of my friends,” he said.
With hundreds of visitors coming out for the event, Beach Streets was able to spread its mission of encouraging residents to think differently about the city they live in while providing live entertainment and mingling for all.