By Jim Knippenberg
Enquirer staff writer

IF YOU GO

Where: 50 E. Freedom Way, downtown. Festival: Noon -8 p.m., free, public festival highlighting dance, music, storytelling and demonstrations by ethnic communities from around the world. The Freedom Center building will be closed to the public. Dedication concert: 6:30-8 p.m. on the grounds of the Freedom Center. Public dedication: 8 p.m.-10 p.m. with First Lady Laura Bush. Street closings: From 9 a.m. today until 6 a.m. Tuesday, Vine Street between Theodore M. Berry Way and Second Street will be closed. From 5 to 10 p.m. Monday, the Suspension Bridge will be closed.

The galaxy of stars shining on the opening of the National Underground Freedom Center's Sunday gala just got a little bit brighter.

Talk show hostess Oprah Winfrey, fresh from her $17.20-a-day job as a Cook County (Chicago) juror, will attend the gala.

The party - the biggest in Cincinnati in years with more than 1,300 paying guests - will be in a football field-sized tent near the Freedom Center. It's sold out, but planners have been holding seats for celebrities who hadn't responded yet.

Other celebrities expected either for the gala or Monday's dedication include First Lady Laura Bush, actress Angela Bassett, rock stars Bono, Nick Lachey and Sean "P. Diddy" Combs, poet Nikki Giovanni, and TV news personalities Harry Smith, Diane Sawyer and Bill Hemmer.

Several national shows will broadcast live or do segments all day Monday. Among them: CBS Early Show with Harry Smith, ABC Good Morning America, MTV, Chat the Planet and C-Span.

WCPO-TV (Channel 9) is also in the picture with Clyde Gray and Carol Williams anchoring a 90-minute special from 5-6:30 p.m. from the site. Gateway to Freedom, says general manager Bill Fee, will include interviews and pre-produced packages on local and national heroes and cutaways for news updates.

E-mail jknippenberg@enquirer.com