Thursday, September 1, 2011

MORE THAN 200 ORGANIZATIONS LAUNCH A YEAR OF EVENTS TO CELEBRATE LA’S 230TH BIRTHDAY

With a history spanning 230 years, Los Angeles will have no trouble finding ways to celebrate its rich heritage over the next 12 months. The LA Heritage Alliance, a network of over 200 heritage organizations throughout Southern California, is coordinating a year-long series of 230 events starting in September to commemorate the City’s founding on September 4, 1781.

All LA230 events will be listed on the LA Heritage Alliance Heritage Portal, a partnership with ExperienceLA.com. This portal, at www.experiencela.com/heritage, lists all the participating organizations and their events. To refine the search to these events, use the search term, “LA230.”

From Los Angeles to San Gabriel to Long Beach to The San Fernando Valley and all across Southern California, events will commemorate LA’s birthday by celebrating a specific aspect of its history, be it a person, place, event, culture, or movement.

To start the celebration, Los Pobladores (http://lospobladores.org/) will host a re-enactment walk from The Mission San Gabriel Arcangel to LA’s birthplace at Olvera Street on Saturday, September 3, starting at 6am and arriving at Union Station for the formal entrance at about 9:15am. Olvera Street (http://elpueblo.lacity.org/) will host a celebration on September 4 starting at 10am with cake.

Other events include a special lecture on “Dinner in the Exploding City” from the Culinary Historians of Southern California at the Central Library (with culinary samples), “Art of the Jonathon Club” at the Pasadena Museum of History, and “Pushing the Boundaries: Adventurers, Pioneers and Unconventional Heroes” living history from West Adams Heritage at Angelus Rosedale Cemetery. New events are being added each day, so check out
www.experiencela.com/heritage for all the latest events to celebrate LA230!