LAGUNA NIGUEL : Expo Expands to Cover the Weekend

The city’s annual exercise in mixing business with pleasure--the Laguna Niguel Community Expo--will be twice as big this year. Formerly a one-day event, the expo will span the entire weekend, starting with a carnival tonight at 5 at La Paz and Aliso Creek roads. Other events, including live musical acts and A Taste of Laguna Niguel, will continue throughout the weekend at the field site.

The festival, expected to draw crowds of 10,000 each day, will offer local merchants a chance to rub elbows in a section of booths set aside for the business community.

A series of music acts will take the stage throughout the weekend, highlighted by a performance Sunday by Jim Messina, formerly of Buffalo Springfield, Poco and Loggins and Messina.

Other acts include Wild Child, a Doors tribute group, and the Eagles cover band, Hotel California. Both groups will play on Saturday.

More than 30 area restaurants will also sell samples of their cuisine for from $1 to $4 at A Taste of Laguna Niguel being held both days.

The carnival will be open throughout the weekend. A first-time event for the expo, an arts and crafts fair, will take place Sunday from noon to 6 p.m.

A $3 admission will be charged for the expo, which runs Saturday from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday and from noon to 6 p.m. Sunday. Children under 12 will be allowed in free.

Free parking will be available at the Chet Holifield Federal Building, which has entrances off Alicia Parkway and La Paz Road.