By Cris Franco
What’s eight miles long, features 1800 performers and lasts all day? (Times up.) It’s Celebrate L.A.! Created to honor the L.A. Philharmonic’s 100th anniversary, it’s a free, daylong street festival connecting Walt Disney Concert Hall and the Hollywood Bowl, on Sunday, September 30, 2018 starting at 9AM. This unprecedented community event is a gift from the LA Phil showcasing the city’s creative spirit through live shows, and fun-filled activities throughout the entire route.
There will be six hubs along the route featuring performance stages, art installations, food trucks, activities for all ages, dancing, and live music. The six hubs are located at:
Walt Disney Concert Hall (Grand Avenue between 1st Street and Hope Place),
MacArthur Park (Park View Street between Wilshire Boulevard and 6th Street),
Koreatown (Liberty Park – Wilshire Boulevard between Serrano Avenue and Oxford Avenue)
Melrose (Melrose Avenue at Windsor Boulevard)
Hollywood (Vine Street between Hollywood Boulevard and Yucca Street)
Hollywood Bowl (Monique and Jonathan Kagan Patio Stage).
Las Cafeteras
The many featured acts will include a list of Latino luminaries including: Grammy award-winning Poncho Sanchez; East L.A.’s conjunto Las Caferteras; the all-female mariachi band Las Colibri; and Cuban jazz-piano sensation Alfredo Rodriguez.
With L.A.’s abundant talent pool, I asked Julia Ward, the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s Director of Development Communication and Strategy as to how they selected their acts? Julia said, “Because Celebrate L.A.! was conceived of as the LA Phil’s gift to the city as we enter our 100th year, we really wanted to represent the spirit and diversity of Los Angeles’ creative communities. We wanted to first ensure that artists from every part of the county were invited to participate: Westlake, Thai Town, Leimert Park, Little Armenia – the list goes on. And that emphasis on diversity extended beyond geography to ethnicity, genre, artistic discipline, size of ensemble, and even level of experience – the young musicians of YOLA will perform on the same stage as internationally renowned headliner Poncho Sanchez. It’s an extraordinary undertaking.”
And extraordinary it is as it will require that traffic be cleared for an 8-mile stretch of highly traveled streets to connect the six performance and arts festival spaces. When I asked as to the logistics behind accomplishing this daunting task, Ms. Ward answered, “It’s a massive logistical undertaking. CicLAvia, our partner in producing the “open streets” festival component of Celebrate LA! CicLAvia has been temporarily closing streets to car traffic to create safe, public park-type environments since 2010. Together we’ve been working with the LAPD, LAFD, Department of Transportation, City Council members, and the Mayor’s Office to prepare for the event to ensure it doesn’t negatively impact neighborhood residents or businesses. There’s been a small army at work on Celebrate LA!, and we can’t wait to see everyone’s efforts come to fruition on Sunday.”
As the SuperBowl Sunday of L.A. arts, I asked Julia what was the desired goal of such a grand endeavor? She replied, “When the LA Phil thought about how to kick-off its centennial, it was less interested in celebrating itself than in celebrating the city that has supported and inspired it for the past 100 years. Celebrate LA! is our gift to Los Angeles – a massive, free public event that applauds the vibrant creativity and musical life of this extraordinary city.
The LA Phil’s Music and Artistic Director Gustavo Dudamel is a big believer in “music for all,” and this event is real reflection of his values. Following his lead, we want everyone to feel invited, represented, and proud of the diversity that makes Los Angeles one of the greatest and most creative cities in the world.”
Celebrate LA! is generously supported by Target, Media Partners: 94.7 The Wave, Classical KUSC, KCRW, K-LOVE 107.5, KPFK 90.7 fm, and Univision Los Angeles
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