It takes a Village -- and beyond

SOMETHING citrus this way comes.

A giant orange is crashing Southern California’s New Year’s Eve party, announcing not only the arrival of 2006 but of a new large-scale celebration.

If Orange County New Year’s Eve (OCNYE) meets promoters’ expectations of attracting about 20,000 people, it would eclipse downtown L.A.’s Giant Village as the largest Southland gathering outside a theme park. (The festivities at Disneyland draw a crowd estimated at better than 50,000, although attendance figures are not announced.)

But big or small, pageantry abounds, and whether your tastes run to outdoors festivals, DJ-driven events, live music, edgy divertissement or family outings, there’s little reason to stay home and watch Dick Clark and Ryan Seacrest on ABC. Unless that’s where your tastes run.

So with the obligatory reminders -- be safe, and designate a driver if you drink -- here are the highlights for next weekend:

Dropping the orange

Times Square it isn’t, but the Orange County Fairgrounds offers room to roam, and with three music stages and several smaller side pavilions and food courts (not to mention free parking), OCNYE takes the smorgasbord approach.

“It’s like a channel-surfer’s dream,” says Peter Melton, promotions manager for event producer Richard Goodwin Presents. “Patrons can cruise around a village, seeing a little bit of this or a little bit of that, until they find something that they like.”

The lineup of rock bands includes veteran acts such as the Violent Femmes, Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, Berlin and the Psychedelic Furs, and is sprinkled with up-and-comers such as the Colour and American Eyes. Blues, dance and country music also claim their nooks, if attendees can find time between wine-tasting and having their fortunes told.

But the event’s “headliner” will crash the main stage during the set by local heroes Sugar Ray. An orange -- 6 feet in diameter, aluminum in construction and juiced with pyrotechnics -- will drop 50 feet and land in a sea of laser lights, orange beach balls and fireworks at the stroke of midnight.

“We felt that if they dropped an apple in New York City,” Melton says, “we should drop an orange in O.C.”

The $3,000-a-minute climax is the brainchild of executive producer and veteran special-effects guru Dennis Condon, an Orange County native who says “fate was on my side” in getting the chance to assemble the program. “Hopefully,” he says, “the show will tell a bit about the story of O.C.”

* OCNYE, Orange County Fairgrounds, 88 Fair Drive, Costa Mesa. 6 p.m. Dec. 31 to 1:30 a.m. $75 (VIP, $125). (714) 740-2000 (Ticketmaster); www.ocnye.com

Annexing to the Village

The sixth edition of Giant Village in downtown L.A. expands its plate (adding two blocks to last year’s four) and its menu (adding hip-hop to a music lineup that includes dance and rock). But that’s not the reason for the $5 bump in admission, says Dave Dean, director of Giant.

“It’s for the bathroom trailers,” he says.

Yes, goodbye Porta Potties, hello loos-on-wheels.

Dean is confident the luxurious-by-comparison bathrooms won’t be the only things running smoothly at his six-stage event, expected to attract 15,000 after drawing 12,000 last year. “This is the first time we’ve been in the same location two years in a row,” he says. “We have a better handle on the whole production.”

From its bustling locus at Wilshire Boulevard and Hope Street, Giant Village last year outgrew its dance-music roots to showcase a rock headliner for the first time. This year, it’s hip-hop as well, as the Black Eyed Peas follow preeminent turntablist Z-Trip on the Grand Stage.

“The Black Eyed Peas have had a great year, and we thought that adding them and Z-Trip would dovetail nicely in the dance music offerings we have,” Dean says. “I can’t think of another band that would be the ideal New Year’s Eve party band.”

Except maybe the Flaming Lips, who figure to be in fine form and full costume when they follow Death Cab for Cutie on the Hope Stage. Heavyweight DJs such as John Digweed, Christopher Lawrence, the Crystal Method and Marques Wyatt hold forth on the other stages. Three indoor lounges, carnival rides, sideshows and midnight fireworks at three locales round out the fare.

* Giant Village, enter at 6th and Hope streets, downtown L.A. 8 p.m. Dec. 31 to 4 a.m. $80 (VIP, $150); 21 and older. www.giantvillage.com

The right avant-garde

Provocative event producer Mark Bava believes his otherworldly event has found an out-of-this-world home.

Cirk-O-Six, an evening of burlesque, vaudevillian, aerial and multimedia performances, is setting up shop at the historic and increasingly resplendent Los Angeles Theatre, thanks to Bava and the promoting alliance Anon Salon.

“The burlesque or the cirque-based performers have always been on the side, but we’re making them headliners,” says Bava, who helped produce last year’s “Sea of Dreams” event at the Park Plaza. “We’ll have an ongoing rotation of shows in several rooms, so you can catch an act and then rejoin the party.”

Among those acts: burlesque performers from Lucha Va Voom, vaudevillian craziness from art troupe Lucent Dossier, big-top theatrics from Burning Man Festival veterans Cirque Berzerk and a parade of off-center art, live music and “dancerotica” DJ sets.

And as you’d expect at an event targeted to an audience promoters call “cultural creatives,” the revelers’ costumes may rival the performers’.

* Cirk-O-Six, Los Angeles Theatre, 615 S. Broadway, downtown L.A. 9 p.m. Dec. 31 to 4 a.m. $60 to $70. www.sodla.com

Driven by the DJs

For the last seven years, Together as One has followed a simple formula to ensure its success as one of L.A.’s most popular ways to ring in the new year. That formula: top-name DJ talent for fans of all ages.

The eighth edition finds co-promoters Go Ventures and Insomniac putting together a bill topped by German trance star Paul Van Dyk, who is becoming an L.A. New Year’s Eve institution. Joining Van Dyk is an international lineup, including house favorite Mark Farina and the U.K.’s Judge Jules.

“I think we have one of the best lineups we’ve had in years between Paul Van Dyk, Mark Farina, Judge Jules, Marques Schultz and Dieselboy,” says Insomniac’s Pasquale Rotella. “This year New Year’s Eve falls on a Saturday. So we really wanted to go for it.”

* Together as One, L.A. Sports Arena, 3939 S. Figueroa, L.A. 8 p.m. Dec. 31 to 4 a.m. $40 to $100. www.newyearsevela.com

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Correspondent Steve Baltin contributed to this report.

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Ring it in

More options for Dec. 31:

Under the stars

* Gridlock ‘06, with Pussycat Dolls performing, Pamela Anderson hosting and dance music on multiple stages, Paramount Pictures Studio Lot, 5555 Melrose Ave., L.A. 9 p.m. $125 to $225. www.gridlockla.com

* Christian music artists Todd Agnew, Matthew West and Skillet headline Praise 2006, Knott’s Berry Farm, 8039 Beach Blvd., Buena Park. 7 p.m. $38 to $45. (714) 220-5200; www.knotts.com

Family friendly

* The 15th installment of alcohol-free First Night Fullerton, Harbor Boulevard at Commonwealth Avenue. 7 p.m. Free. (714) 738-3167.

Dress to impress

* Dollhouse Roaring Twenties convenes at the Day After, a bank building made over in 1920s fashion. 6757 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood. $70 to $125. www.samrhimaproductions.com/04_events.php

* New Year’s Eve Ball 2006, at the Renaissance Hollywood Hotel, 6081 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood. 8 p.m. $125. www.daskproductions.com

Dance, dance, dance

* Singer Deborah Cox, followed by DJ Manny Lehman, entertain at the Main Event, Hollywood Palladium, 6215 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood. 8 p.m. $40 to $275. www.newyearsla.com

* DJ Sander Kleinenberg holds forth at Avalon, 1735 Vine St., Hollywood. $60 to $125. (323) 462-8900; www.groovetickets.com

* Combined party for clubs Bang! and Beat It makes a comeback after being without a venue last year. Britpop, ‘80s, electro, at the Ruby, 7070 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood. $30 to $40. www.clubbeatit.net

Live music

* Soulful John Legend performs at the House of Blues, 8430 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood. $125. 9 p.m. (323) 848-5100

* Marc Almond (Soft Cell), up-and-coming locals Clear Static and DJ Carlos D of Interpol entertain at New Year’s Eve Experience, El Rey Theatre, 5515 Wilshire Blvd., L.A. 9 p.m. $80. www.clubcoven13.net

* “Let’s all pretend we’re on the Titanic and it’s sinking,” says Donita Sparks (ex-L7), playing Spaceland, 1717 Silver Lake Blvd., Silver Lake. $10. (323) 661-4380; www.clubspaceland.com

* Grammy-toting Poncho Sanchez plays two shows at the Conga Room, 5364 Wilshire Blvd., L.A. $100 to $427. (323) 938-1696; www.congaroom.com.

* Swing in the new year with Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., L.A. 7 and 10:30 p.m. $53 to $150. (323) 850-2000; www.laphil.com

* Pure, unadulterated funk, courtesy of the Breakestra, at the Temple Bar, 1026 Wilshire Blvd., Santa Monica. 9 p.m. $40. (310) 393-6611; www.templebarlive.com

* Also: Up-and-comers the Adored party with Club Underground at the Echo; rockers Dredg (Roxy) and Buckcherry (Viper Room) crank it up on the Sunset Strip; Cuban American MC Pitbull raps at Vault 350 in Long Beach; and Chris Pierce croons at the Mint.

Naughty is nice

* “Whip in the new year,” say promoters of the Bondage Ball, Henry Fonda Theatre, 6126 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood. 9 p.m. $35 to $55. www.bondageball.com

* The Suicide Girls grace Miss Kitty’s Naughty New Year’s Eve Ball at the Dragonfly, 6510 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood. 8 p.m. $40. (323) 466-6111.

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-- Kevin Bronson