30,000 Expected at Downtown Party

Downtown’s Grand Park will host its second New Year’s Eve party tonight, with organizers hoping to draw at least 30,000 revelers.

Last year’s inaugural Grand Park N.Y.E. L.A. celebration was attended by about 25,000 people, exceeding expectations. This year’s event, which will last from 7 p.m. to 12:30 a.m., will have triple the space and can handle a capacity of 50,000 people, organizers said.

In addition to the 12-acre Grand Park being devoted to the event, surrounding roads from Second to Temple streets, and from Grand Avenue to Main Street, will be closed to allow more party-goers to watch the countdown.

Organizers say they are aiming to create a centralized place for residents of a sprawling Los Angeles to ring in the new year in the spirit of the ball-drop event at New York City’s Times Square.

Three stages will feature musical entertainment throughout the night from KCRW disc jockeys and artists such as Ceci Bastida, Omid Walizadeh and Dorothy. The alcohol-free event will have about 30 food venders, as well as a station giving out free samples of Nestle-Abuelita hot chocolate.

Interactive videos created by design studio yU+co will be displayed on the west and south side of the Los Angeles City Hall building at the foot Grand Park. The audience will get to control the display by making noises.

At 10 minutes to midnight, a countdown video will start showing images of day-to-day slices of Los Angeles life and landmarks on the side of City Hall.

Organizers are encouraging participants to take selfie photos in front of the digital displays and post them on social media using the hashtag #grandparkselfie. Instagram users can tag their photos of the event using #LAStory to submit them to be displayed on the side of the Hall of Records building.

Metro is offering free rides on its rail and bus lines over the New Year’s holiday, including the Red or Purple lines, which will take people to the Civic Center/Grand Park station at Grand Park.

• City News Service
• Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons