You should definitely go! You are correct that there is a grace period for licensing and I've never seen anybody ticketed until their old plates run out, especially on the peninsula where there are tourists from all over. You will have to put up with all the inconveniences of the event on the peninsula, so you may as well enjoy it! There will be over 1000 cars on the show field and 50% more than that on the peninsula who never actually are in the show, so population there is twice the year round residents. Beach Barons have everyone leave the field on Saturday night so all those cars are on the road.
A couple of hints for first timers:
The show field is a beautiful facility on grass owned by the Beach Barons. They open up for folks to (actually) stake out their spots on Friday at 8 am. Yes with stakes and flagging tape, it's like a mini Oklahoma Land Rush, or staking claims in the gold fields. No cars on the field, just people staking spots, putting up canopies, etc.
If you have to actually get around, Downtown Long Beach is a slowly oozing parking lot starting Friday night, but especially Saturday night. Use the parallel Sand Ridge road if you have to get somewhere.
Cars, including mine, will get there starting Thursday, so some of the most enjoyable cruising in Long Beach starts Thursday night before the crowds get bad.
You should definitely go! You are correct that there is a grace period for licensing and I've never seen anybody ticketed until their old plates run out, especially on the peninsula where there are tourists from all over. You will have to put up with all the inconveniences of the event on the peninsula, so you may as well enjoy it! There will be over 1000 cars on the show field and 50% more than that on the peninsula who never actually are in the show, so population there is twice the year round residents. Beach Barons have everyone leave the field on Saturday night so all those cars are on the road.
A couple of hints for first timers:
The show field is a beautiful facility on grass owned by the Beach Barons. They open up for folks to (actually) stake out their spots on Friday at 8 am. Yes with stakes and flagging tape, it's like a mini Oklahoma Land Rush, or staking claims in the gold fields. No cars on the field, just people staking spots, putting up canopies, etc.
If you have to actually get around, Downtown Long Beach is a slowly oozing parking lot starting Friday night, but especially Saturday night. Use the parallel Sand Ridge road if you have to get somewhere.
Cars, including mine, will get there starting Thursday, so some of the most enjoyable cruising in Long Beach starts Thursday night before the crowds get bad.
