New Year’s Eve celebration draws thousands to DTLA’s Gloria Molina Grand Park

LOS ANGELES – An estimated 25,000 people flocked to downtown LA Tuesday night to celebrate the New Year. 

The massive celebration at Gloria Molina Grand Park is known to be the West Coast’s largest free New Year’s Eve event.

It featured local and international artists performing global music on two stages and a seven-minute art show projected onto City Hall at midnight.

Gloria Molina Grand Park’s NYELA began at 8 p.m. and encompasses the six blocks that comprise the park.

The Countdown Stage in the park’s Block 4 between Broadway and Spring Street was hosted by Novena Carmel from KCRW’s “Morning Becomes Eclectic.” 

The hip-hop band Weapons of Mass Creation performed from 8:45-9:35 p.m. followed by Puerto Rican producer and multi-instrumentalist Pachy “Pachyman” Garcia from 9:55-10:45 p.m. and the Brooklyn-based afrobeat band Antibalas from 11:05-11:55 p.m.

The Get Down Stage, on the Performance Lawn between Grand Avenue and Hill Street, was hosted by the DJ-host-producer Midi Riperton, formerly known as Sammi G. It featured an all-female lineup of DJs spinning electronic dance music, beginning with DJ Sparkle and DJ Mak-10 from Girls Make Beats, a nonprofit organization dedicated to increasing the number of female music producers, DJs and audio engineers.

The art show highlights Los Angeles’ beauty, diversity, culture and natural landscapes and seeks to heighten Angelenos’ “awareness of environmental green living,” according to organizers.

Parking is 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 (Red) and Metro D (Purple) lines.

Metro rides will be free from 4 a.m. Tuesday through 3 a.m. Wednesday.

There will be three specially marked entrances to Grand Park:

— Hill and First streets;

— Broadway and Second Street. and

— Hill and Temple streets.

Additional information is available at grandparkla.org/nyela

Other New Year’s Eve events in Los Angeles County include:

— A fireworks and glow party at Burton Chace Park in Marina Del Rey that will include viewing of the East Coast and West Coast countdowns at 8:59 p.m. and 11:59 p.m. that will be followed by 10-minute fireworks shows; and

— a family-friendly New Year’s Eve ice skating experience with a countdown to midnight Eastern Time at Ice at Santa Monica at 1324 Fifth St.

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