Tijuana’s night life springs back into action

A clown zips along Avenida Revolucion, adding a circus-like feel to Tijuana’s tourist zone. Sharp-dressed locals mingle on a street corner that used to be jammed with American tourists but has recently been overtaken by locals who are propelling a cultural revival.  (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

At the Dandy del Sur on La Sexta in Tijuana’s nightclub district patrons can choose from local brews and jukebox tunes.  (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

Ramon Amezcua (Bostich), left, and Pepe Mogt (Fussible), co-founders of the pioneering group Nortec Collective, share drinks with friends at Tijuana’s Dandy del Sur. “In 2007 we were afraid to go in the night to the bars, to live the night-life style of Tijuana,” said Bostich. “But here, starting with Sixth Avenue, the people started to take back the streets.”  (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

A crowd comes to hear music and down dozens of varieties of mescal at La Mezcalera on La Sexta, one of the more popular streets that’s home to various cantinas and shops.  (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

Tightly packed dancers at La Mezcalera shuffle around to the techno beat of a DJ on the illuminated floor. The place draws hip locals to Tijuana’s nightclub district on La Sexta.   (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

A crowd gathers in front of Las Pulgas nightclub on Avenida Revolucion after midnight on a recent Saturday. The featured band, San Valentin, drew hundreds of local factory workers for a loud night of banda-style music.   (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

Fans shout requests and hand notes to the band San Valentin at the Las Pulgas nightclub in Tijuana.   (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

Clubgoers dance with abandon at Las Pulgas, a sprawling Tijuana nightclub often packed with locals, a sign of the border city’s night-life resurgence after years in the crossfire of a brutal drug war.  (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

The dance club Las Pulgas on Avenida Revolucion draws a huge crowd on weekends, much of it young people from the area who are boosting Tijuana’s night life amid a revival being led by local entrepreneurs and artists setting up shop on various streets.  (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

It’s almost 4 a.m. on a Saturday at La Mezcalera, where lovers embrace and Nortec Collective’s Pepe Mogt, left, says goodnight to a friend. The cantina offers a variety of mescals -- some made by families in the Oaxaca countryside.   (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)