Long Beach : Carnaval Music to Fill Downtown Area Saturday

Dust off your samba outfit. Carnaval II is coming to town.

The streets of downtown Long Beach will be the site Saturday of an outdoor festival modeled after the Mardi Gras of New Orleans and Carnaval of Rio de Janeiro.

The day is scheduled to start at 10 a.m. with a parade along Pine Avenue, from Seaside Drive to 9th Street, featuring more than 500 costumed Brazilian and Caribbean musicians. The music will start at 1 p.m. with such bands as War, Poncho Sanchez, the International Reggae Allstars, the Trinidad Steel Band and the tip-toeing Tiny Tim.

Four music stages will be set up from the Promenade to Pacific Avenue, each with its own enclosed beer garden. Unlike last year, organizers will sell bracelets for $2 that admit the wearer to all stage areas. There also will be a children’s stage for free music along the Promenade at 1st Street.

The changes are intended to make the event a financial, as well as a popular, success. Last year, the event ran a deficit even though an estimated 50,000 revelers showed up.

This year, the downtown business group sponsoring the event is receiving $20,000 from the city Redevelopment Agency. The group, Downtown Long Beach Associates, plans a budget of $192,000.

Long Beach Transit buses that normally run along Pine Avenue will be diverted to Pacific Avenue on Saturday, a transit spokesman said. No special bus service to the event is planned.