Fiesta La Ballona, Culver City’s annual “Party in the Park”, will be held this year on August 28-30, 2015 at Veterans Park located at 4117 Overland Avenue in Culver City. The weekend will feature live performances, carnival rides and games, over 100 booths showcasing local groups, artisan wares, and other vendors, pony rides and two petting zoos, a beer and wine garden, a farmers market, food trucks and a food court, sustainability activities and other special activities. Admission is free.
Fiesta La Ballona event hours are 4:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. on Friday, August 28; 11:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. on Saturday, August 29; and 11:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. on Sunday, August 30. Complimentary event parking is available at Sony Pictures Studios on Overland Avenue.
Music and dance performances as well as special, interactive activities are free. Food, drinks and other attractions are optional and an additional cost. Carnival ride tickets are $1.00 each with volume discounts. Each ride varies in number of tickets required, with many needing 4-5 tickets per ride. Friday night, starting at 5:00pm, there will be a special offer of two riders for the price of one. Wristbands, purchased for $20.00 in advance, are available for unlimited rides on Saturday or Sunday until 6:00 p.m. After 6:00 p.m. only ride tickets are valid. More information on purchasing wristbands is available by contacting the City’s Recreation Office at (310) 253-6650. Wristband pre-sale ends Friday, August 28 at 7:00pm.
Fiesta’s performances in the Entertainment Tent will begin on Friday, August 28 at 4:30 p.m. with US 99 performing classic rock and roll. Fiesta-Palooza will start at 6:00 p.m. and it showcases five local teen bands, including Detoure, the Academy of Visual and Performing Arts Jazz Combo, Scoop, Silent Partner, and Grounded. There will be other attractions for teens that night including the special offer for the Carnival Rides, Food Trucks and the Party Truck Game Center, a mobile video game entertainment trailer, which starts at 4:30pm.
On Saturday, August 29, the Opening Ceremony will occur at 11:45 a.m. and include welcoming remarks from City Council members and other officials, the CCHS Cheer Team, and a Color Guard presentation from Culver City’s Boy Scout Troop 113. Vox Femina Los Angeles, a Culver City-based choral group, returns to perform “The Star-Spangled Banner”.
Mariachi Voces de Mexico will launch the performances on Saturday, August 29 at 12:00 Noon. They will be followed by Grupo Folklorico Macias presenting folk dances of Mexico. The Kelly Rae Band will perform country music at 1:45 p.m., which will be followed by Country Line Dancing with Jackie’s Posse. A.D. and the Soul Company will perform R&B, funk and soul at 3:30 p.m. OTE Dance Studio will present a Jazz and hip-hop performance at 4:30pm, followed by Wildfire which will perform the best of Top 40 Pop at 5:15 p.m. Next, Grupo La Rosa will perform lively folk dances from the Americas at 6:15 p.m. Saturday night will wrap up with a two-hour Swing Dance party, featuring the Jumpin’ Joz Band, sponsored by the office of Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
The program will open at 11:00 a.m. on Sunday, August 30 to the sound of ukulele music, presented by Cali Rose & The CC Strummers. O’ahu will follow, performing Hawaiian music at 11:45 a.m., followed by the Ho’Aloha Polynesian Dancers. Sunday afternoon will feature Conjunto Los Pochos at 1:30 p.m. followed by Grupo Folklorico Tzintzuni, which will present folk dances of the Americas. Igor and Red Elvises’ performance at 3:15 p.m. will feature Siberian Surf Music. Xorotroptzi will follow with Bulgarian Folk dances at 4:15 p.m. The entertainment program will close with Latin Jazz performed by the Louie Cruz Beltran Ensemble at 5:00 p.m.
In addition to live performances, many other attractions and activities will be available during Fiesta weekend. On Friday, August 28, seniors can enjoy several early bird special offers, between 4:30 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. at the Food Court and selected food trucks. The Aquacade at the Culver City Municipal Plunge will occur on all three days of Fiesta. KCET will have an interactive arts and education kiosk at Fiesta, on Saturday from 11:00am to 6:00pm, to celebrate the station’s 50th anniversary. Fiestagoers will also be able to meet the Galaxy Star Squad and LA Kings Ice Crew on Saturday. On Saturday and Sunday, Enriched Farms will provide a Farmers Market, with locally farmed organic produce, uniquely prepared foods and handcrafted works of local artists.
The Exchange Club’s Beer & Wine Garden returns to Fiesta and will be open Friday, Saturday and Sunday. If visitors come hungry to Fiesta, food trucks and Food Court booths will be offering options to satisfy anyone’s appetite, including a variety of BBQ, global cuisine, and classic American fare as well as many desserts and sweets.
Fiesta La Ballona’s Sustainability Booth will offer activities and presentations including The Energy Coalition, presented by Southern California Edison and Southern California Gas Company, on Saturday at 3:00pm. There will be two on California Native Plants, Saturday at 11:00am and Sunday at 3:00pm. Fiesta implements a zero waste policy to ensure resource recovery and protect scarce natural resources. The plan encompasses waste reduction, composting, recycling and reuse, changes in consumption habits and encouraging Fiesta participants to view zero waste as a personal evolution in the relationship between waste and people. In an effort to work towards a zero waste Fiesta, volunteers are trained on recycling procedures and will educate visitors on what to place in the recycling bins located throughout the Fiesta grounds. Vendors will be encouraged to donate surplus food to a food bank or food collection center.
Culver City’s Fiesta La Ballona is recognized as a bicycle friendly event. Angel City Derby Girls and Palms Cycle will offer a secure bike valet for visitors who ride their bikes to the celebration on Saturday and Sunday from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Culver CityBus provides bicycle racks to encourage bike riding and public transportation. Also, pedicab and Dial-A-Ride paratransit shuttle services will be available at the Sony Pictures Studio parking lot off Overland Avenue.
The City of Culver City’s Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department and the Fiesta La Ballona Committee organize and produce Fiesta along with the assistance of more than 100 volunteers. This year’s Fiesta Committee members include Karen Gibbs as Chair, Marcus G. Tiggs as Vice-Chair, Celeste Anlauf, Ronnie Jayne, Jeanne Min, Randy Arizmendiz, and Robert C. Wayne.
Sponsors are the backbone of Fiesta and contribute to making the event a great success. The Fiesta thanks the following local organizations and businesses who are sponsoring this year’s event: Gold Sponsor Sony Pictures; Silver Sponsors Bunnin Chevrolet, Cedars-Sinai, Tito’s Tacos, Culver City Volvo Mazda, Kane, Ballmer & Berkman, Southern California Gas Company and GEICO; Bronze Sponsors Chick-fil-A, Los Angeles County Arts Commission, Backstage Bar & Grill, Heather & Art Realtors, Just Tires Culver City, West Basin Municipal Water District, Lowe Enterprises, Golden State Water Company, and Steeldeck, Inc.; Fiesta Friends See’s Candies, Staples (Baldwin Hill-Crenshaw Plaza), Cavanaugh Realtors, The Conservatory for Coffee, Tea & Cocoa, In8Love Chiropractic, the Mayme A. Clayton Library & Museum, ZogSports, Palms Cycle, Angel City Derby Girls, the Bonove Company, ArcLight Cinemas, and Echo Horizon School; Zero-Waste Partners Haynes Building Services and West Coast Arborists; Activity Partners KCET, Enriched Farms, LA Kings Ice Crew, and LA Galaxy Star Squad; and Media Partner LA Weekly.
For a full list of attractions, activities, live performances, and all other Fiesta-related details, visit the Fiesta La Ballona website at www.FiestaLaBallona.org. You can also find Fiesta on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram #FLB2015 and YouTube. A program guide, which includes a map of the event and all scheduled activities, will also be available at Fiesta La Ballona.
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