Inglewood celebration on the right track to community unity.

A family picnic for all of Inglewood, complete with box lunches, music and games, will be hosted Saturday by the City Council at Hollywood Park Racetrack.

The ninth annual Community Unity Celebration offers a day of sun, low-cost entertainment for all ages and a behind-the-scenes look at a $20-million renovation project that has brightened the 300-acre track complex.

The event, initially staged as a formal affair to honor prominent members of the business community, was revamped several years ago as a way for city officials to recognize the community as a whole.

The popular outing, which now attracts thousands of visitors each year, also offers residents a chance to “celebrate the pride they have in their community,” said city spokesman Darryl Brown.

Live music, carnival and arcade games, a tour of the grounds, and picnic lunches--including a menu of fried chicken, potato salad, fruit and pan dulce-- are all covered in the price of admission.

Musicians and dancers selected to reflect Inglewood’s ethnic diversity will perform on two stages, featuring Caribbean, Latino, African and other influences, Brown said.

The classic sounds of the Robert Perry jazz band will open the day’s entertainment and pave the way for appearances by city officials. Also scheduled to appear are Ballet Aztlan, a folklorico dance troupe; the Mighty Voices of Joy Gospel Singers; the Bamiki Bandela Reggae Band; Mariachi Juvenil; rappers Bone E B & House Three and Super Derf; the African Cuzmo Band, and Island Nights, a salsa group.

Young picnickers can visit the children’s theater, where a puppet show, mime and magician will take the stage. A petting zoo will include goats, sheep and chickens.

Another sort of animal, in the form of a Ninja Turtle, will help host children’s games and traditional picnic competitions such as potato sack and three-legged races and the seasonal water-balloon toss.

Teen-agers may find their challenge in the track arcade, where more than 30 video games--each set up for free play--await the quick-wristed. Ten carnival game booths will offer tests of skill for all ages.

After a short nap in the sun, visitors may want to join one of the guided tram tours that will showcase Hollywood Park’s $20-million improvement project. The tour will offer glimpses of six new barns that will hold 2,000 horses, a newly landscaped viewing paddock where horses will parade before each race and the track’s infield area, renovated to include two lakes where geese and swans now swim.

Following the community celebration, visitors are invited to stay free at the park to observe scheduled quarter horse races.

Tickets may be purchased in advance at several locations, including Inglewood City Hall, 1 Manchester Blvd., ninth floor administrative office; the Inglewood Senior Citizens’ Center, 111 N. Locust St.; Centinela Park, 700 Warren Lane, and the Arreola Bakery, 120 W. Arbor Vitae St.

What: ninth annual Inglewood Community Unity Celebration.

When: 1 to 6 p.m. Saturday.

Where: Hollywood Park Racetrack, Century Boulevard and Prairie Avenue, Inglewood.

Admission: $3 for adults; $1 for children under 12.

Information: (310) 412-5301.