UCLA First Thursdays brings Westwood together for jazz concert, ‘Soul’ screening

July 16, 2022

Bruins and Westwood residents came together on Broxton Avenue on July 7 for UCLA’s monthly First Thursdays event.

The First Thursdays series, which launched in March, serves to create connections between the campus community, local businesses and Westwood neighbors. This month’s event was hosted in partnership with the Westwood Village Improvement Association and UCLA Strategic Communications and featured a screening of Disney’s “Soul” and a live Bruin jazz ensemble for more than 850 attendees.

The event also featured a photo booth, light-up cotton candy and giveaways themed after of one of Disney’s newest movies, “Lightyear.”

“It’s really about building that connection at a time where due to COVID, we’ve been losing that – and doing it in no place other than Westwood,” said Ben Weitz, UCLA’s chief brand officer.

Weitz said July’s event was partly organized to give back to the Westwood community that has been supportive of UCLA and the Village.