Updated July 11, 2026 at 6:25 p.m.
Wilshire Boulevard came to life in Westlake as the city hosted its first open street event connecting MacArthur Park to Lafayette Park with multiple World Cup watch parties, live music and a vendor village.
Attendee Tifany Cuevas marveled at the family-friendly atmosphere in a corner of the neighborhood that has become known for rampant drug use and a growing unhoused population in and around the park.
She felt a sense of relief and pride seeing the neighborhood active and lively.
“Just knowing how this area — it’s not very kid friendly, not even adult friendly. It’s you know kind of crazy, ugly type of things you don’t want going on,” Cuevas said Friday. “I haven’t been here in a minute, and it looks really good.”
Organized by the office of Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez and Metro, the event is an attempt to showcase the park and the surrounding community. Vehicle traffic along Wilshire Boulevard was replaced by children kicking soccer balls, families setup in lawn chairs to watch World Cup matches on a giant screen and visit with their neighbors.
Hernandez promised this would not be the last type of event in the neighborhood, as her office plans to collaborate with Metro and MAC LA for future events.
“I’m going to look under every rock and every shoe box to bring the resources to make it happen,” she said on Saturday.
Overall, she and her staff were pleased with the turnout and response to the event.
“Community keeps community safe. So when you make space available to people, they will take up that space and if you give them the accessories and resources to make it fun, they will come.” Hernandez said.
Activating the space will bring in more of the safe street infrastructure needed in the area and connect the neighborhoods around the park, Hernandez said.
“A lot of people give MacArthur park a bad rap, but it’s a beautiful neighborhood where thousands of families lives,” she sadded.
Pedestrians, cyclists and skaters roamed the street, while families mingled in the park. The community-focused event took on a CicLAvia-style takeover of Westlake.
Jaime Garcia, Sheila Calderon and their son Zylus Garcia live between Koreatown and Pico Union. They often frequent car-free events around LA and enjoy visiting new communities, but now, they’re sharing their neighborhood with other Angelenos.
“A lot of people are scared or afraid because they hear how the park is, but they’re coming here today and see it’s not that bad. I understand why they’re pushing for more family-friendly events here, especially after that whole ICE thing,” Garcia said, referring to the unrelenting federal immigration raids in the area.
Growing up just a few blocks away, the 32-year-old remembers MacArthur Park feeling safer years ago, but feels like community activations like Park to Park are a step in the right direction.
Dotun Bello brought his family to the event and was immediately impressed by the music and overall vibe emanating from Wilshire Boulevard. His main motivation was to get his daughter out into the community.
“We do a lot of driving in the city, so whenever you get a chance to walk around and actually like mingle with people,” Bello said.
Vendors from local brick-and-mortar businesses and pop-up shops lined the street selling artisanal goods, clothing and food. Cooling stations, rest areas and restrooms also filled out the event.
World Cup fans watched multiple games on a giant screen outside the park and salsa and soul group Boogaloo Assassins, Plenazo Tribe and Ambiente Central were set to close out Saturday festivities.
Pico Union resident Aurora Corona said she was happy to see a historically challenged public space such as MacArthur Park become the setting for such a vibrant community activation. To her, reconnecting the park reconnects the community.
“The condition of the park has been in a demised state for quite some time and finally we’re seeing some kind of action,” Corona said. “I think these little changes, like Park to Park, would be a positive.”
The 71-year-old cherishes her memories of walking through MacArthur Park after a movie at the Westlake Theater and said she envisioned the future of the park returning to what she remembers.
“That kind of nostalgia and those memories that I have of it, have been my driving force to get it back to the people, to get it back to what it used to look like,” Corona said. “It’s going in the right direction, finally.”
