EAST LOS ANGELES — Free rides from one end of the Gold Line to the other, the 19th annual Mariachi Festival featuring some of the best bands in Southern California, a special visit from Santa and other events will mark the opening of the Edward R. Roybal Gold Line Eastside Extension Sunday.

Community leaders and organizations have responded to the opening of the Gold Line Eastside Extension with dozens of events along the alignment, especially at four locations: the East Los Angeles Civic Center Station, Mariachi Plaza, the Little Tokyo Arts District and Union Station. Sunday festivities will take place from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The East L.A. Civic Center Station at Third Street and Civic Center Way will offer live performances by Chicano rock bands, the weekly farmers market, food booths, healthy cooking classes, children’s activities, exhibits by local artists and special exhibits from the County Bike Coalition.

The Mariachi Plaza Station at First Street and Boyle Avenue will feature the first Boyle Heights Block Party and Mariachi Festival . Two stages will offer live mariachi, Latin and contemporary music — including Jahnny Wallz, Domingo Siete, UmoVerde, Dirty Hens and Quito Sol, Mariachi Sol del Mexico, Mariachi Reyna de Los Angeles, Mariachi Mexicapan, Mariachi Voz de America, Mariachi Santa Cecelia and Mariachi Conservatory.

There also will be free giveaways, a free kids corner, art exhibits and lots of food.

The Little Tokyo/Arts District Station at Alameda and First streets will feature live karaoke music, food from dozens of nearby restaurants, special family activities and booths representing businesses and organizations from the area.
Union Station will feature a pre-holiday visit from Santa from 1 to 1:30 p.m., live entertainment and food booths.

“The long-awaited Gold Line Eastside Extension is going to greatly benefit the community by linking it with schools, hospitals, shopping and business opportunities throughout the county,” said Ara Najarian, a Glendale city councilman who is serving as chair of the MTA board. “It’s a wonderful example of the power of our partnership with the workers who built it, with the local people who insisted on it and with our federal legislators who secured more than half of the $898 million needed to build it.”

Najarian and other MTA officials took reporters and civic officials on a tour of the new rail line recently.

"For the first time in nearly half a century -- since the last trolley ran down First Street — rail will again carry passengers from downtown L.A. to East Los Angeles," Mayor Villaraigosa said. "This caps a 20-year battle to bring rail back to East L.A. — one of the most transit dependent communities in Los Angeles. But this is not the end of the ride. Thanks to the passage of Measure R, there will be local funding for half a dozen new rail projects in the next decade, which will give Angelenos even greater transit access to jobs and other opportunities throughout the county.” 

The highlight of the tour was a stop at Soto Station — one of two new underground stations. Public art was created specifically for the site by artist Nobuho Nagasawa and includes a hand woven stainless steel bird's nest that nestles a translucent acrylic egg.

The opening of the Gold Line Eastside Extension will expand the MTA rail system to 79 miles. The lines crisscross Los Angeles County, linking Long Beach to Pasadena, Redondo Beach, Norwalk, Hollywood, Universal City, North Hollywood and Woodland Hills.

Construction began in 2004. From end to end the Gold Line between Pasadena and the Eastside will be 19.4 miles. The new portion will have eight stations, two of them underground at Soto Street and Mariachi Plaza, connecting seamlessly to Union Station and the 12 existing Gold Line stations north of Union Station. Cost of the project is $898 million.