Los Angeles Celebrations

People took it with them when they left. On that journey from rural towns in Texas and Louisiana, this tradition was precious cargo, packed up with all the other valuables. But Los Angeles of the late 1930s and 1940s was not the same as those rural towns. People here did not stop to remember the last enslaved Africans. People did not celebrate as if they were hearing the news for the first time. Nobody talked about the Union general.

Los Angeles Ballet returns to its roots for this, its seventh season, by devoting its two spring repertory programs to masterworks -- and slightly lesser ballets -- of George Balanchine. At UCLA on Saturday, the first program featured two company premieres and two revivals, making for a mini-tour through the diverse hues of the choreographer's rainbow oeuvre. “La Sonnambula” represents his Romantic side -- that's a capital R -- the moody Russian of the Old World. He would shortly give up overt storytelling, but in this one-act, created for the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo in 1946 to operatic excerpts, Balanchine indulged in 19 th century artistic archetypes.

Island breezes and ukulele tunes will waft across Northridge Park today in a spring festival that celebrates Hawaiian culture and raises money for youth scholarships. Now in its 27th year, the Northridge Ho'olaule'a, sponsored by the San Fernando Valley Ohana Kakou, features performances by a Samoan drum corps, hula dancers and ukulele groups from Ventura, San Fernando and Newport Beach.

FOOD In what may be the zenith of L.A. food-geekery, the L.A. Times Celebration of Food & Wine (yep, that's us) will feature a compendium of all things consumable. Panel discussions featuring Times food writers, chef and mixologist demonstrations, a bevy of food trucks and a concert by the winsome folk duo She & Him will leave you hunting for elastic-band sweatpants when it's all over. Paramount Studios, 5555 Melrose Ave., L.A. Noon Sun. $55. events.latimes.com/foodandwine

Pope John Paul II's two-day visit to Los Angeles next month is being welcomed by government leaders as their first major opportunity to employ the lessons of the 1984 Olympics, particularly in averting downtown traffic gridlock. Plans are being laid to reschedule truck deliveries, arrange commuter car pools and beef up public transit service--strategies that combined to produce a smooth traffic flow during the Summer Games.

USC sophomore Ian Chestnut, 20, looked out across the packed auditorium Thursday and asked everyone under 30 to stand up. "Those of you standing were not around when [civil rights leaders] went through the struggle, through the trials and tribulations," he said. "I would just like to say thank you for their making it possible for us to be here." Chestnut spoke at a campus event called "A Tribute to Rosa Parks," one of several celebrations Thursday honoring the birthday of the Rev.

A little-known movement of hundreds of evangelical ministers in the Los Angeles area meets four times a year to pray for each other, their churches and a city notorious for an overabundance of natural disasters and urban crises. The Love L.A. clergy coalition was started in 1989 by a Hollywood pastor who is now the U.S. Senate chaplain and by the high-profile pastor of a Van Nuys church.

The holiday is the Mexican Dia de los Muertos--Day of the Dead--but the observance has a definite L.A. accent. In Studio City, a group of women attending a cultural workshop learns how to decorate the traditional sugar skulls that evoke the memories of the departed. Beth Sax takes a skull and carefully writes "P. Diana" for the late princess.

When the future Pope John Paul II visited Los Angeles 11 years ago, he got to do a little leisurely sightseeing, going to Marineland, Griffith Park and Forest Lawn. But then, he was only a Polish cardinal. No time for any of that on Tuesday and Wednesday: The Southland schedule of the supreme head of the Roman Catholic Church has been laid out to the last minute as he segues from event to event in a whirlwind of meticulously planned appearances.

More than 3,500 people are expected to attend the second annual Juneteenth in the San Fernando Valley, a festival and bazaar Saturday at the Hansen Dam Recreation Area celebrating what many African Americans recognize as the day slavery ended, organizers said. The daylong event will include food and retail vendors, arts and crafts, two fashion shows, a petting zoo, tap dancing and an African dance group.

The vendor selling churros, snacks of fried dough tossed with sugar and cinnamon, shouted to attract customers because no one was in line. Tortas were unpopular, mariscos even more so, and some vendors quickly changed their sales strategy to selling drinks, instead of just food, in Saturday afternoon's warmth.

Thousands of Sikhs celebrated one of their holiest days with a parade through downtown Los Angeles on Sunday and a call for greater understanding of the fact that wearing a turban is not un-American, nor is it the mark of a terrorist. The Sikhs said their religion was often mistaken for the Islamic faith, and therefore they have been targeted for retaliation since the Sept. 11 attacks. "What you look like does not define ...

Hector Berlioz was one of those ornery figures who wrote music that doesn't fit into neat little molds. Perhaps operating in that spirit, the Los Angeles Philharmonic's Berlioz Festival seems to be trying to break some predictable patterns of the typical festival experience. For a start, 2004 isn't even the Berlioz Year -- the bicentennial of his birth occurred in 2003 -- so these concerts proclaim that we need not be chained to the calendar in order to celebrate this fascinating composer.

It was inauguration day James K. Hahn style--modest, personal and painstakingly attentive to the city's diverse communities. He delivered a quick speech then hosted a festive street party with the longest receiving line in civic memory, catering by Roscoe's House of Chicken 'n Waffles, Chef Marilyn's Place and Art's Deli, among others; dancing and music that included Chinese dragons, drummers, an African American dance company and a rhythm and blues band. Get used to it, Los Angeles.

Like conquering Roman warriors returning home, the Los Angeles Lakers rode double-decker buses Monday in a triumphant parade through a downtown crowd estimated at 550,000 fans. All that was missing were the vanquished 76ers being dragged in chains behind the chariots of the champion Lakers, who won their second consecutive NBA title and predicted a third to come.

"The younger generation is sick of hearing about [the apathy of L.A. fans]. We're starting to change that. We hear about New York and their championship teams. Now we've got one." Rob Byer, Laker fan from Santa Clarita "I just want to say I love Brian Shaw. May I kiss you Brian Shaw?" Shaquille O'Neal at DWP "People get so stupid when they start drinking. It's hot out here and hopefully they won't get too rowdy. The world is watching."

When it comes to millennium celebrations, New York has Times Square, Washington has the Mall, Las Vegas has the Strip, and Los Angeles has the Hollywood sign. At the stroke of midnight, that icon of the entertainment capital will be lit in a blaze of color and laser light. "You don't want to be in New York," joked Mayor Richard Riordan. "Who wants to see someone drop the ball."

When he crosses into California on the last leg of a grueling, eight-city U.S. tour, anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela will become the star attraction at mass rallies inside sports coliseums, at elegant fund-raisers and on the steps of Los Angeles City Hall.

And so the Laker season ended Monday afternoon with Mark Madsen, in front of thousands of horrified witnesses, suffering what appeared to be an excruciatingly painful attack of appendicitis. What? He was just dancing? "My, my goodness," Rick Fox said. "It runs in my family," Madsen said. Whatever it was, it lunged and jerked frighteningly across a Staples Center stage during Shaquille O'Neal's rap song that ended the Lakers' second consecutive championship parade and rally.