nation, showcasing its artistic side and opening restaurants and art galleries all over Broad Street, Manchester area, and Downtown Richmond. Artspace and Art6 Gallery were two of the first anchor galleries for First Fridays on Broad Street in Richmond. One of the oldest First Friday's is located in Boston's SoWa Arts District where more than 80 artists open their studios to the public every First Friday. The SoWa Arts District is located at Harrison Ave and Thayer Street in Boston's South End. In 2015, USA Today's 10BEST readers poll voted the SoWa as the second best arts district in the country. Social networking Some First Fridays promote arts and culture combined with social networking, like First Fridays in Tucson, AZ. Other smaller-scale First Fridays serve as social gatherings for groups of friends or people new to an area and may involve no art. They may also include the large First Friday events such as those in Phoenix, Arizona attracting up to 20,000 attendees to hundreds of spaces. Various cities areas have First Fridays centered on politically conservative networking. The pioneer of these events began in Washington, D.C. but similar events have found success in Virginia, Nevada, and Arizona. In many cities, First Fridays events place an emphasis on African American networking and business opportunities for African American professionals. First Friday is the top networking event for African American professionals and consistently attracts over 16,000 people each month across North America according to First Fridays United. The First Fridays monthly events originated in 1987 as an outlet for African American professionals to mix, mingle and network. During the 1980s it was common for an individual to be the only black professional working in their company. First Fridays happy hours become a way for these professionals to meet in a social atmosphere while exchanging useful information. The concept spread rapidly and First Fridays chapters now operate in 39 cities across North America and seven countries worldwide, including Austin, Binghamton, Birmingham, Boston, Charlotte, Charleston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Detroit, Fort Myers, Fort Lauderdale, Hattiesburg, Hartford, Hong Kong, Houston, Indianapolis, Jackson, Kansas City, Kingston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Long Beach London, Louisville, Memphis, Miami, Nashville, Nassau, New Orleans, New York, Newark, Oakland, Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Raleigh, Richmond, Rio de Janeiro, Sacramento, San Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco, St. Louis, Normandy, Scranton, South Bend, Syracuse, Tallahassee, Tokyo, Toronto, Washington, D.C. and since May 2016 also