From cool music to hot cars, Saturday’s Cruise Night in Glendale has something for everybody.

By Jake BOWMAN

“Join us for the 26th annual Cruise Night, a family-friendly event for the community,” invited Patricia Betancourt, the organizer for the event. She added that Cruise Night is a way for the community to come together and enjoy downtown Glendale and for some community members to show off some amazing classic cars.

Held every year in the heart of downtown Glendale, Cruise Night is all about cars, food, live performances and fireworks. This year is set to be even bigger with performances by Desperado, an Eagles tribute band, Mirage, a Fleetwood Mac tribute band, and Heartbeat City, a Cars tribute band. There will be around 350 to 400 classic cars in attendance with plenty of competitions and prizes to be won.

“We are actually accepting car registration until 5 p.m on Friday, July 19,” said Betancourt.

The diversity will be vast of cars on-site. To whet the appetite of enthusiasts, the Cruise Night website has been hosting “Featured Cars” for the past three months. June’s car was a 1968 Chevy Camaro named Camille. With black upholstery, a sweet Quasar blue finish and a 283 ci engine the car is beautiful both inside and out. Camille’s owner Mike Lunsford showed the car for the first time at Cruise Night and has since become an expected sight at the event.

Along with the cars, many sponsors will be in attendance offering information and deals for shops and businesses in the area. This year’s event will feature a selfie station, ice cream samples and the “teletron.” Traditionally Cruise Night is set up between two stages, a main stage and a secondary stage, for the musical performers. The teletron is a 15-by-8 foot projector screen that will broadcast the main stage events across to the second stage as well.

Attending Cruise Night is free and many of the restaurants in the area will stay open late, so there will be opportunities for community members to try out different food options. The excitement and energy of the evening will end with a bang, thanks to a planned fireworks display.

Cruise Night will take place from 5:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. on July 20 on Brand Boulevard in downtown Glendale. Car registration will be located at 1401 N. Verdugo Road in Glendale. Most of downtown will be closed off for the duration of the event.

Additional information about the Cruise Night, including parking information, can be found on the website www.glendalecruisenight.com.

  Jake BOWMAN