City officials and event organizers gathered on Thursday to celebrate the start of construction for the 50th iteration of the Grand Prix of Long Beach.

Crews have officially begun building grandstands for the event — dubbed Long Beach’s “200-mph beach party” — which will take place from April 11-13.

This year’s Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach is expected to be even more spectacular than usual as organizers prepare to celebrate its 50th anniversary. Special additions to the event’s offerings have already been announced, including racing legends Mario Andretti and Al Unser Jr. signing on to be grand marshals. And legendary rock band Foreigner will headline the Grand Prix’s Saturday night concert.

Thursday’s press conference featured appearances from three historic race cars representing different eras of racing in Long Beach: John Cannon’s 1973 March 73A from Formula 5000, Keke Rosberg’s 1983 Williams FW 008C from Formula 1, and Bryan Herta’s 1999 Reynard representing IndyCars, according to a news release from the Grand Prix Association of Long Beach.

“What we decided to do is put all three of those eras together, in an exhibition together on both Saturday and Sunday,” GPALB president and CEO Jim Michaelian said Thursday, “which will be the first time that anybody has ever heard all of those types of cars on the track at the same time.”

Construction, meanwhile, will continue over the next couple of months — leading up to the big weekend.

Tickets for the 50th Grand Prix of Long Beach are already on sale. General admission tickets for the first day of the Grand Prix start at $44. Race fans can get a three-day ticket with reserved grandstand seating on Saturday and Sunday for $205. For more information about the Grand Prix and ticketing, go to gplb.com.