A Late Fiesta Gets Show on the Road : Festival: Postponed by the Rodney G. King trial, the celebration--with eight stages each presenting four to 12 acts--takes place Sunday in downtown L.A.

Better late than never.

L.A. Fiesta Broadway, normally a Cinco de Mayo celebration, will take over 36 blocks of downtown Sunday from noon to 6 p.m.

The Fiesta was originally scheduled for April 25, but nine days before that the LAPD was on tactical alert as Los Angeles awaited verdicts in the Rodney G. King federal civil rights trial. In addition to general anxiety about potential civil unrest, the city couldn’t spare the hundreds of police officers needed for security for such a large event.

The rescheduling meant more than just a postponement for presenter KMEX-TV/Channel 34. The Fiesta lost some headline entertainment, including Mexican pop diva Gloria Trevi, the European group Gitano Boys and Cuban-born salsa singer Rey Ruiz. “It affects us where some talent wasn’t able to be rescheduled because of other commitments,” said producer Mario Proenza. “It’s like saying I’m having the Super Bowl on April 1, and then trying to move it to May 15.”

Yet Proenza doesn’t think the changes will affect attendance, which was about 500,000 last year.

“We draw more people than the Long Beach Grand Prix, the L.A. Marathon and the Rose Bowl combined,” he said. “I think that we’ll definitely get close to the same amount of people. The artists that are performing here, they draw a lot of people. And for free ?”

The dozens of musical acts lined up for the Fiesta represent a cross-section of contemporary Latino music, ranging from Spanish-language pop to mariachi, from romantic salsa to the increasingly popular Banda .

Eight stages will present between four and 12 acts. In addition, five musical islands along Broadway will feature local talent all day, including mariachis, marimba players and other guitar ensembles.

“People are walking the streets (so) every single stage has to have all the types of music that we are offering,” said Maria Isabel Pena, the Fiesta entertainment coordinator.

Each stage has its own headliners, including Afro-Caribbean singer and trombonist Willie Colon, the Los Angeles-based Mariachi Sol de Mexico, Venezuelan rapper Que Pasa?, Puerto Rican salsa singer Eddie Santiago and pop/rock groups Garibaldi, Menudo and Fandango.

Acts have been drawn from all over the United States, Europe and South America, though the majority of the performers are local. About one-fifth of the entertainers have recently been on Billboard magazine’s Latin music charts, Proenza said.

“We try to give the largest mix of Hispanic entertainment at any festival in the world,” he said. “We have showcased a lot of (emerging) artists in the last three years. . . . Those artists have gone on to sell millions of records, and some have gone on to get Grammy nominations on the Latin side.”

Some musicians are already established. Headlining one stage is Puerto Rican singer Jose Feliciano. In his 30 years of performing, Feliciano has recorded in four languages, won six Grammys, received more than 40 gold and platinum records, and had a half-hour syndicated TV program. He’s been a hit in the United States since 1968, due in part to his English-language covers of “Light My Fire” and “California Dreamin.’ ”

For the most part, the fourth annual L.A. Fiesta Broadway will have a similar offering to its predecessors: food from some 10-15 countries, arcade games, boxing, basketball shootouts and 350 arts and crafts booths. New to the Fiesta is a presentation by Disney of its “Toontown Review” at a park near Broadway and Second Street.

Proenza said changes were made in response to criticism last year that the headliners were playing too few songs and that some were lip-syncing. Last year most people “felt that the smaller stages were a lot more lively, a lot more ambient,” Proenza said. He is trying to expand that feeling to all the stages by having all performers give completely live shows.

And on all of the stages, acts will perform about half an hour. The only exception will be the main TV stage, he said, “because we have 13 to 14 headliners, they only get to play three or four songs.”

The Fiesta costs about $1.5 million to put on, with sponsors lined up to help cover the costs, Proenza said.

“The operation is very expensive. I think this is the year that we may break even or possibly make a little money,” he said. “I don’t know if we want to get any bigger. I don’t foresee it getting any bigger. We’re maxed out on space and streets.”

Taking It to the Streets The schedule of events for the L.A. Fiesta on Sunday, noon-6 p.m., in downtown Los Angeles, at each stage in order of appearance:

KMEX/Univision Stage

(Broadway and Olympic):

Mariachi Juvenil de Mexico and Ballet

Alma de Mexico (dance)

Lalo y Los Descalzos

Marc Anthony

La Sombra

Los Fantasmas del Caribe

Gustavo Alarco

Mariachi Sol de Mexico

Angeles Ochoa

Tony Vega

Charanda Band

Tatiana

Garibaldi

Budweiser Stage

(Broadway and 1st Street):

Los Vagos De Mexicali

Angeles

Lula y Afro Brasil (dance)

Danza Mexicana (dance)

Bonanza

Laura Flores

Sinaloa Band

Willie Colon

KCBS Stage

(Spring and 2nd streets):

La Maldad

Gustavo Alarco

Yari More

Los Muecas

Ballet Alma de Mexico (dance)

Que Pasa?

Jose Feliciano

Mariachi Sol de Mexico

Rocio Banquells (with Mariachi

Sol de Mexico)

Marlboro Stage

(Spring and 9th streets):

Los Tiranos del Norte

Miriam y Las Chicas

Tony Vega

Eddie Santiago

Target Stage

(Spring and 6th streets):

Banda Guerrero

Los Blue Jeans

Jose A. Quintero (with Mariachi Latino)

El Charro Avitia (with Mariachi Latino)

Fandango

Edgardo Gazcon (with Mariachi Latino)

Suzy Gonzalez (with Mariachi Latino)

Antonio de Jesus (with Banda Sinaloense Puro Culiacan)

Coca-Cola Stage

(Spring and 4th streets):

Carolina . . . y Sus Relampagos

Karolina

Banda Caoba

Tonantzin (dance)

Laureano Brizuela

Mariachi Juvenil Tecalitlan

Alicia Juarez (with Mariachi

Juvenil Tecalitlan)

Marisela

AT&T; Stage

(Hill and 7th streets):

Tenochtitlan (dance)

Z-Band

Los Costenos

Los Fugitivos

Menudo

Angeles Ochoa with Mariachi Internacional de Mexico

Marc Anthony

Food 4 Less Stage

(Hill and 9th streets):

Genaro Rodriguez y sus Bribones

Amado

Rudy Regalado

Herencia Mexicana (dance)

Banda Sinaloense Puro Culiacan

Sonia Rivas

Alvaro Torres and Mariachi Sol de Mexico

La Sombra