One of my favorite things to do in the summer is attend the annual Lotus Festival at Echo Park Lake. This colorful and convivial two-day event is held in July to unite the diverse surrounding community.
Echo Park is not far from downtown and is a rich mix of cultures including pockets of Pacific Asian communities. Historic Filipinotown is a block away and Chinatown, Little Tokyo, and Koreatown are nearby.
The theme of the Lotus Festival changes each year highlighting a country of Pacific Asian and Asian origin. 2024 featured the Philippines.
Visitors enjoy cultural dance performances, booths featuring Pacific Asian artisans, clothing boutiques, community awareness booths, food trucks and pop-ups, dragon boat races, swan boats, and rides and games for children. I also came across an alcoholic drink pavilion as I walked around the lake.
Watch my short video of the festival below.
July heat can be brutal in L.A., but it was only in the 80s when I arrived on Saturday afternoon. I love walking around the lake any time of year but wore a straw hat and walking shoes.
Beautiful Filipino dancers in brilliant red sarongs swayed to Hawaiian rhythms when I arrived at the entertainment stage.
The Lotus is usually in full bloom by July in Los Angeles but due to our weird rainy weather in Spring, they were a little slow getting up to speed. I’m sure they will bloom in August as some flowers were visible amongst the green stems.
Dragon Boat races
One of the features of the Lotus Festival is the colorful dragon boats. Several races are held during the festivals and attendees lined up for rides in between races. Dragon boats were introduced at the 3rd festival that highlighted China. They were built out of two rowboats and decorated with dragon décor.
The first dragon boat race had a total of 10 coed teams. A blessing of the Dragon Boats is performed during the Lotus Festival.
Asian food to satiate your palate
Lotus Festival attendees never had to worry about getting hungry as there was an eclectic mix of food vendors serving everything from Asian food to street tacos. Exotic cool drinks and desserts were also being happily consumed.
A short history of the Lotus Festival
The Lotus Festival originated in 1972. It was originally called “The Day of the Lotus” to promote awareness and understanding of the contributions Pacific Asians had made to the community.
Fun Fact: Echo Park Lake has the largest lotus bed in the United States.
There have been years when the festival was paused, particularly between 1978 and 1990 and again from 2012-2013 when the lake was rehabilitated. It was also paused during COVID.
The festival was renamed “The Lotus Festival” in 1990 with the theme, “The People and Cultures of the Pacific Rim.” In 1992 it was renamed “The People and Cultures of Asia and the Pacific Islands.” Asian Pacific Islander communities that have been featured include Japan, Philippines, Asian Indonesian, China, Samoa, Tonga, Hawaii, Thailand, Korea, Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Tibet, Loatia, Bangladesh, and Hmong.
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