THE 16th ANNUAL GREAT LOS ANGELES WALK RETURNS NOV. 20, AND WILL RETRACE THE STEPS OF THE CITY'S ORIGINAL SETTLERS ("LOS POBLADORES") IN HONOR OF L.A.'s 240TH BIRTHDAY
LOS ANGELES (Nov. 8, 2021) -- Hundreds of Angelenos will hit the sidewalks once again on Saturday, November 20, for The Great Los Angeles Walk 2021 – the annual event that dispels the myth that “nobody walks in L.A.”
After last year's socially distanced edition, The Great Los Angeles Walk (http://www.greatlawalk.com) will welcome vaccinated participants to join in and walk from the San Gabriel Mission to downtown, the same route that the city's first settlers – Los Pobladores – took to found Los Angeles in 1781.
In September 1781, the original settlers of Los Angeles — the 44 mostly Mexican-Indigenous and Black individuals known as Los Pobladores ("the settlers"), set out from the San Gabriel Mission. El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reina de Los Angeles de Porciuncula (a.k.a. Los Angeles) was then founded, 240 years ago.
Every year, hundreds of Angelenos walk the historic route, from the San Gabriel Mission to El Pueblo Historical Monument, considered the birthplace of Los Angeles, to celebrate our city's birthday. This year, the Great Los Angeles Walk will do the same.
But the Pobladores route is only nine miles — which is a little more than half our usual downtown-to-ocean journey. So once we get to El Pueblo, we'll also walk through downtown Los Angeles' Spring St., Broadway and Grand Ave., in order to spend a bit more time exploring our fine city.
All told, this year's route will still be the shortest ever in the Great Los Angeles Walk's 16-year history: Just 13 miles. But that will give participants a chance to take more time and explore both the Pueblo (including Olvera Street) and downtown. The journey will end by taking Angels Flight railway down to Grand Central Market for a celebratory meal and drink.
Everyone will be encouraged to explore the city in a safe way, and follow proper safety protocols, such as wearing a mask indoors and maintaining a proper distancing from others. From there, they should explore the city, document what they see and share that experience with others.
L.A. journalist and blogger Michael Schneider launched the Great Los Angeles Walk in 2006 as a way to celebrate his tenth year in Los Angeles. Inspired by the book “Wilshire Boulevard: Grand Concourse of Los Angeles,” by Kevin Roderick (with research by J. Eric Lynxwiler), he decided to walk the street’s entire length.
In 2007, for an encore, he chose another downtown-to-the-ocean route: Pico Boulevard. The 2008 Walk took on Santa Monica Blvd. In 2009, the event kicked off in the historic West Adams district and walked to Venice Beach via Adams and Washington. In 2010, for its fifth edition, the Great Los Angeles Walk reprised its original Wilshire journey. In 2011, participants marched to the ocean via Hollywood Boulevard. In 2012, the Walk traveled across Melrose Avenue; in 2013, Sunset Boulevard; in 2014, the Walk traveled across the San Fernando Valley via Ventura Boulevard; in 2015, the Walk took on Olympic Boulevard; in 2016, it returned to Pico; in 2017, the Walk tackled Beverly Boulevard; in 2018, in honor of Jonathan Gold, we walked on 6th Street, including through Koreatown; in 2019, we walked down Colorado Blvd. from Arcadia and Pasadena, and then through Highland Park to downtown via Figueroa; and in 2020, the socially distanced edition returned to Wilshire.
The Great Los Angeles Walk grew from dozens of participants to hundreds, and continues to expand each year as more Angelenos join in to explore their city on foot.
As always, the Walk is completely free. It is up to the participants to decide how much or how little of the walk they want to do. The Great Los Angeles Walk has been featured in Los Angeles magazine, the Los Angeles Times, the L.A. Weekly, KCAL-Channel 9, KABC-Channel 7, LAist.com and KNBC.com. In 2012, the LA Weekly recognized The Great Los Angeles Walk in its "Best of L.A." issue. More recently, the Walk was included in the book "The Best Things to Do In Los Angeles: 1001 Ideas" by Joy Yoon.
The official hashtags of The Great Los Angeles Walk are #greatlawalk and #glaw. Social media users can follow along all day on the walk's official Twitter feed, @greatlawalk, as we continually post our location.
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PHOTOS AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST
CONTACT: Michael Schneider
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