By STEVEN HERBERT | City News Service
LOS ANGELES — What organizers bill as the West Coast’s largest free New Year’s Eve event will be held Sunday at Gloria Molina Grand Park with a collection of global music artists and performers and an all-female lineup of DJs.
Gloria Molina Grand Park’s NYELA will begin at 8 p.m. and encompass the six blocks that comprise the park.
The Countdown Stage, hosted by DJ Sizzle in the park’s Block 4 between Broadway and Spring Street, will open with the salsa funk, boogaloo and cumbia band La Verdad with a special performance by salsa dancer Stephanie Stevenson, known as “The Princess of Salsa.”
A performance by the solo reggaeton singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist La Doña will follow.
In the final act of the evening, the music and dance ensemble Extra Ancestral will present a performance combining afrobeat, jazz, reggaeton and African dance, followed by the park’s countdown-to-midnight art spectacle projected on City Hall.
The Get Down Stage, located in the park’s Block 2 between Grand Avenue and Hill Street, will be hosted by CALI 93.9 personality Carolina Marquez. The first DJ on the stage will be Latin Vinyl DJ Linda Nuves, followed by baile funk DJ duo Mango & Ginger.
ERICALANDIA will spin electronic dance music from 11:15 p.m.-12:30 a.m., with an interruption from 11:55 a.m.-12:05 a.m. for the midnight countdown art show.
The celebration will also include installations in the park by the multimedia artist Cassandra Carrillo and games and activities from the PlayLA Youth and Adaptive Youth Sports Program presented by the Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks.
“Light bites” and desserts will be available for purchase from more than 30 of Los Angeles’ favorite gourmet food trucks.
Alcohol is not permitted and will not be sold. Coolers, foldable or metal chairs, unsealed or open beverage bottles with liquid including water, selfie sticks, firecrackers, drones and unleashed animals are among the other items not permitted. The entire list is available at grandparkla.org/event/grand-parks-nyela/.
Parking will be available at the Music Center garage and the Walt Disney Concert Hall garage for $10 per vehicle.
Attendees are highly encouraged to take public transportation. Gloria Molina Grand Park is located at the Civic Center/Grand Park station on the Metro B Line (Red) and Metro D Line (Purple); the Historic Broadway Station on the Metro A Line (Blue) and Metro E Line (Gold); and the Grand Avenue Arts/Bunker Hill station on the Metro A Line (Blue) and Metro E Line (Gold).
Metro rides will be free from 9 p.m. Sunday through 2 a.m. Monday.
There will be four specially marked entrances to Grand Park:
— Hill and Second streets;
— Hill and Temple streets;
— Main and First streets; and
— Broadway and Second Street.
Meanwhile, a free, alcohol- and drug-free New Year’s Eve event will begin at 8:30 p.m. at Plummer Park’s Fiesta Hall in West Hollywood.
The theme of VIBEZ: A Sober New Year Celebration is Alien Superstar with attendees encouraged to wear their shiniest, “most intergalactic” outfits. The celebration will include drag entertainment, dancing and light refreshments.
Attendees must be 18 or older to attend. Due to limited capacity, advance RSVP is encouraged at tinyurl.com/2xbeznxu.
