Around five o’clock on the second Thursday of every month, a change takes place in the streets of Downtown Los Angeles. It starts with a trickle of people draped in flowing skirts, decorated with intricate tattoos and sporting dreadlocks or black-dyed emo crops. They all seem to be carrying tools of their trade – guitars, framed paintings, boxes of funky knitted hats or free underground publications.

In a corner gallery, janitors finish mopping. Owners rush to duct-tape electrical cords to the concrete floor and arrange cubes of cheese on trays.

Watching an artist in a dress shorter than her bead necklace sign a last-minute note on the wall, out-of-town visitors may feel like they are stealing a behind-the-scenes glimpse of LA’s vibrant art culture. The intimate feeling doesn’t last long.

As soon as the sun goes down, the streets begin to swell with the sounds of swing street musicians. Polished locals wearing varying manifestations of black from lace stockings to tailored blazers and carrying plastic cups of red wine push past artists selling sparkling skulls. Women in high heels teeter over the uneven sidewalk. The Hippodrome, a spray-painted 1940s school bus, cruises up and down Gallery Row offering its free shuttling service.

The galleries, mainly ground-floor storefronts with exposed pipes and bricks, are packed wall to wall. Every gallery and museum participating in the Art Walk is free on this night. Clusters of people laugh and talk while others squeeze past to admire installations ranging from photography to performance art.

In one abandoned movie theater, a band blares in the echoing chair-less chamber while the crowd circles through to view haunting, urban images captured by the Skid Row Photography Club.

In the aptly named Hive Gallery, small cubicles form private spaces, each dedicated to an artist’s collection. The viewer is drawn into each of these combs and Advertisement

[ Berry-Bell and Hall Mortuary ] enveloped in the artist’s vision.

Enter Leyla Akdogan’s whimsical world of watercolor and ink, where doe-eyed girls ride flamingos and lounge in bird cages with their feet dangling in antique bathtubs. Or step into the Temple of Visions display, where an artist sits serenely on her chalk design looking as earthy as her paintings of modern goddesses.

While there are many characters flying and frolicking within their frames, there are even more of their living counterparts thronging in the streets. People-watching reaches a new extreme in the milling throngs of art aficionados.

The Downtown LA Art Walk features 28 galleries on its seven-block trek down Spring St. and back up Main and 16 other participating facilities, including The Museum of Contemporary Art, in the surrounding area. The route travels between some of LA’s oldest buildings with their detailed 20th century facades lit up above the crowds.

Visitors can take a break at Cole’s Restaurant, LA’s oldest public house, for a grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup combo. For a more modern vibe, Pitfire Pizza offers ample seating and wood fire Italian fare.

There are more than 30 eateries to choose from along the walk. Just be sure to slide into a burgundy booth at Nickel Diner for a slice of cheese or red velvet cake and maybe even a movie star sighting.

Back out on the streets, the crowd shows no sign of thinning even though the event is only officially scheduled to last between noon and 9 p.m. The glowing screens of multimedia installations and the neon light of twisted tubes beckon through huge gallery windows.

There is too much to see and take in during just one trip. Luckily, the Art Walk takes place once a month. So, lace up your tennis shoes – those urban sidewalks and crowds can get rough – and prepare your senses for a feast of sound and color.

For more information on the Downtown Art Walk visit www.downtownartwalk.com.