FRINGE DAY 1: ’24 HOURS OF ART/LA’

Twenty-four arts events, one nearly every hour on the hour, will launch Fringe Festival/Los Angeles, which this week announced the lineup for its around-the-clock opener, 6 a.m. Sept. 4 to 6 a.m. Sept. 5.

“24 Hours of Art/LA” will kick off the multi-discipline Fringe Festival that will include about 425 events by more than 400 groups or individual artists, most from Los Angeles County.

Rhythms of the Village, a local troupe performing African music and dance, will launch “24 Hours of Art/LA” at Angels Gate Cultural Center, San Pedro. The marathon will conclude with an audience-participation play by Susan Suntree and Catherine Theobald at dawn on Santa Monica Beach.

Some other events on the agenda:

“Literary Readings” by Dennis Phillips; “Shakespeare on the Pier” by Will and Co.; “El Salvador: Images and Reality,” an exhibit of paintings by Rafael Rivera Escamilla and Jose Maria Garcia; entertainments by the Mums, who will “eat fire, walk on stilts, balls and tight ropes and juggle with the speed of light.”

Most “24 Hours of Art/LA” events are free and L.A. Party Buses, decorated by local artists, will circulate around event venues located throughout the county. For a schedule of events and ticket information, call (213) 931-1255.