娱乐英语新闻:Founding of Walk of Fame to be marked with day-long festival

LOS ANGELES, July 10 (Xinhua) -- A big celebration in honor of the 50th anniversary of the signature entertainment and tourism spot in Los Angeles, the Hollywood Walk of Fame, will be held in two weeks' time as its owner is making preparations for the carnival, a spokesperson said on Saturday.

The event will be a day-long street festival held on July 25 on Vine Street, from Hollywood Boulevard to Sunset, featuring outdoor stages with live music, live theatre, radio personalities and indoor venues showing clips from Star Ceremonies over the years and film of historic Hollywood as well as food and games for the whole family.

Free live performances and movie screenings will be offered and four iconic production centers including Studio A at the Capitol Records building on North Vine Street, which are rarely open to the public, will remain open throughout the day, Hollywood Chamber of Commerce spokesperson Ana Martinez-Holler said in a statement.

Country singer Alan Jackson's star is seen after his star unveiling ceremony on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Hollywood, California April 16, 2010. The new star, near Hard Rock Hollywood, is the 2,405th on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

The TV Guide Studio, Egyptian Theater and the Montalban Theater will be open to help showcase stars that make up the Hollywood Walk of Fame from five categories including motion pictures, television, recording, radio and live theater, she said.

"Many restaurants, retailers and attractions also are joining the celebration offering discounts, special menu items and giveaways," Martinez-Holler said.

The idea of creating the Walk of Fame was first floated by E. M. Stuart, the then president of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce in the 1950s and the construction started on February 8,1960. Nearly 2,500 5-pointed terrazzo and brass stars bearing names of selected entertainers, artists and fictional characters were embedded on an 18-block stretches of sidewalks along Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street.

It attracts about 10 million visitors annually, according to the market research firm NPO/Plog Research.