.Oakland Art Murmur Galleries Will Remain Open for First Friday Despite Cancelled Street Festival

By now, you’ve probably heard that Oakland First Fridays has cancelled November’s street festivities, including the onslaught of food trucks, arts vendors, and lively performances that take over Telegraph Avenue from West Grand to 27th Street. But Oakland Art Murmur wants to make it very clear that the art galleries (you know, the real reason people assemble on Friday evenings, right?) will remain open as usual.

You can check out the full list of galleries and venues that will be open (and free to the public) on Friday, Nov. 2 from 6 to 9 p.m. here.

The First Fridays street fest was cancelled due to the violence that occurred three hours after last month’s edition, leaving five people with gun shot wounds. From a statement on the First Fridays website: “During this hiatus, the Oakland First Fridays team will be conducting a top-to-bottom review of our policies and procedures. We’ll be looking at new ways to increase safety, and addressing other issues raised during conversations with participants, local businesses and city officials in recent weeks. We plan to increase our community partnerships and engagements, review our security procedures with Oakland police, city officials and businesses in the surrounding area, and step up enforcement of the open-containers ban at the event.”