LOS ANGELES (CNS) - What organizers are billing as the West Coast's flagship New Year's Eve event will be held tonight at Grand Park in downtown Los Angeles with the theme “LA DREAMS.”
The sixth annual Grand Park + The Music Center's N.Y.E.L.A. will feature musical performances on two stages along with a 3-D digital countdown to the new year of art and imagery inspired by material from fifth graders culminating with a fireworks display at midnight.
The family friendly event will run from 8 p.m.-1 a.m. on 90 acres from Grand Avenue to City Hall and from Temple Street to Second Street. Organizers expect more than 50,000 people. Admission is free.
Rapper/singer-songwriter Aloe Blacc will be the headliner on the “Countdown Stage” on the Event Lawn near Spring Street in Grand Park. Blacc's wife, the Mexican-born Australian rapper and songwriter Maya Jupiter, will also perform on the stage.
The opening performer will be jazz, soul and hip-hop vocalist Georgia Anne Muldrow. Irka Mateo will perform her fusion of Afro Caribbean Dominican music.
An all-female lineup of DJs will supply music on the “Get Down Stage” on the Performance Lawn in Grand Park, including Spinorita, Ericalandia and Kronika.
The search for the event's visual elements began with Grand Park officials and the Music Center's education team selecting five schools whose fifth-grade students were asked to submit their visions of their dreams for Los Angeles.
The students submitted more than 70 drawings, 60 essays and 10 poems which will be projected onto the south wall of the Hall of Records throughout the event.
The material submitted by the students focused on reducing pollution, providing homes for everyone and creating healthy environments where all Angelenos can thrive, according to Lisa Ducore, The Music Center's director of public relations.
The entries will be included on Grand Park's website following the event.
The 3-D New Year's countdown inspired by the students' work will be begin at 11:55 p.m. and be projected on the west facade of City Hall. It was created by Garson Yu, the founder of the Hollywood-based design agency yU+co.
“Since 2012, each New Year's Eve celebration at Grand Park has been a special and celebratory occasion for reflection and renewal,” said Rachel Moore, The Music Center's president and CEO.
“This year's event will be especially significant as the words and artwork of L.A.'s fifth graders come together in a glorious display that will inspire us to imagine an even brighter future for Los Angeles.”
Event-goers are encouraged to take the Metro Red or Purple lines to Civic Center/Grand Park station or the Gold Line to Little Tokyo/Arts District Station.
The Civic Center/Grand Park station's First Street portal should be used as the Temple Street portal will be closed until midnight. It will re-open at midnight for event exit only.
Photo: Getty Images