CicLAvia returns today along Wilshire Boulevard

A stretch of Wilshire Boulevard in the heart of Los Angeles will go car-free Sunday to host the 18th CicLAvia.

Thousands of walkers, bikers, skateboarders — and, thanks to a new component of the event, runners — are expected to show up for the free festival along a 3.5-mile route between Koreatown and downtown. Festivities get underway at 9 a.m. and will run until 4 p.m.

The route, which is much shorter than the 10-mile course held in Southeast L.A. in May, returns to Wilshire Boulevard for a third time since the inaugural event in the fall of 2010. Wilshire will be closed to traffic from Figueroa Street to Western Avenue.

CicLAvia executive director Romel Pascual said it’s a favorite of event planners because the route highlights one of the city’s most iconic thoroughfares.

“You can stand in the middle of Wilshire Boulevard and look down the street and literally see and feel the history of L.A.,” he said. “You can also see how L.A. has evolved over time.”

Pascual encouraged attendees to mosey along the route at a slow pace, leaving time to drop in at businesses along the way, enjoy music or stop at a few of the 56 “Pokestops” nearby. People can travel in either direction along the route and can join in at any point.

“This is one of the more walkable CicLAvias,” Pascual said.

CicLAvia, which is based off the “open streets” festivals in Bogota, Colombia, known as ciclovias — Spanish for bikeways — is meant to promote a cleaner environment, celebrate the people and streets of L.A. and encourage physical activity.

About 50% of people surveyed at past events said if they hadn’t attended CicLAvia, Pascual said, they’d likely have stayed at home on their couches.

“It gives them the excuse to get up and be active,” he said.

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UPDATES:

8:54 a.m.: This story has been updated with information about the CicLAvia route.