LA County's Cultural Gift to Us All

The free Holiday Celebration celebrates its 53rd outing.

Whenever one laments that LA isn't much of a small town, and it lacks in the quintessential small-town charms, we find the nearest calendar and point to December 24.

That's the day that something quite charming and close-of-community happens in our city, and has for over half a century. It's the Los Angeles County Holiday Celebration, a free, music- and dance-filled afternoon of performance that's billed as "a gift from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors."

The troupes that take to the stage of the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion come Christmas Eve run the glorious gamut. The audience this year will be treated to songs from the South Bay Children's Choir, movement from the Shakti Dance Company, brassy sounds from the Elliot Deutsch Big Band, and the vintage-fun stylings of Vaud and the Villains.

There are LA and SoCal ties all over the lengthy program, making it a day of neighbor applauding neighbor.

And, as is tradition, KCET will be broadcasting the proceedings live, and KPFK will be playing 'em for listeners driving out of town to Grandma's. That's nice, too; even if you can't be there, you're there.

So is a free performance filled with cute kids and lively bands and people with local connection truly only a small town thing? Or is it a big city hallmark, too? We vote both.

The 53rd Annual LA County Holiday Celebration is at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion from 3 to 6 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 24.

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This promo is pretty dang cute. Awww, LA County Board of Supervisors! Don't make us well up. 

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