The first family festival for the new Getty Center was held on December 14, 1997

Community Arts Resources (CARS) produced six community festivals as a part of the opening events of the Getty Center in December 1997. CARS curated a wide range of arts groups to perform at the festival representing the breadth and diversity of Los Angeles including Zenshuji Zendeko (taiko), Kayamanan Ng Lahi (Filipino dance and music), We Tell Stories, Keali’i O Nalani (Hawaiian music and dance), Arpana Dance Company (Indian dance), Lula Washington Youth Dance Ensemble, Mariachi Voz de America, Johnny Polanco and Conjunto Amistad (Cuban salsa), Hamilton High School Gospel Choir, Cheremoya Escola de Samba, and more. CARS also commissioned artists to create projects tailored to the new Getty center including Ensor Giant Puppets by Michelle Berne and Celebration Arts based upon four figures in Janes Ensor’s “Christ’s Entry into Brussels in 1899,” the original “Getty Art Detective,” a self-guided gallery tour for kids with collectible cards created by Los Angeles artist Edmon Rodman, “Sites Pacific,” a contemporary site-specific dance choreographed by Victoria Marks and performed by a troupe of local professional and non-professional dancers on the steps of the Getty’s Arrival Plaza, and a gallery talk “Dressing for the Carnival” on what to wear and how to wear it at an 18th century ball with Professor Michael Hackett and with costumes designed by Roslyn Moore.