The city of Los Angeles will host its 44th annual Lotus Festival Saturday, bringing together residents and visitors at Echo Park Lake to honor the diversity and contributions of Asian Pacific Islander communities, and featuring for the first time a Lotus Flower 5K Run/Walk.
This year, the two-day event will honor South Korean culture with performances scheduled on two stages. It will also feature the Lotus Festival Food Court, which will include local vendors offering traditional dishes and sweets, as well as dragon boat races, community booths, boutiques, and a beer and wine garden.
On Saturday, Gilnori by:Doo Dream will take the Lotus Stage at 11:30 a.m., followed by opening speeches from dignitaries at noon and an opening performance by Rep. of Korea. On the Tiger Stage, the East Wind Foundation for Youth will perform, followed by Rise Kohyang Rock Band, Cypress Park Cheer Dance, and Tang Man. Musicians, dance companies and others will perform throughout the event.
Sunday performers will include Hi Desert Yoga, Rise Kohyang Band, Rio MF Dio, as well as Just Friends Jazz Ensemble, Anderson Memorial SCC, Dimple Kaur, among others.
Starting at 1 p.m. on both days, the festival’s signature event “Lights of Dreams” will take place by the lake.
Jinju Namgang Yudeung, also known as the Jinju Lantern Festival, is the tradition of floating lanterns on the Namgang River, which dates back to the 1500s, according to the festival’s website.
The lantern festival will feature rice paper lanterns and custom-made lotus lanterns. In Asian cultures, illuminated paper lanterns symbolize hope for a brighter future, appreciation of loved ones and memories of those who have died.
Lotus lanterns represent rebirth, purity, and life.
Organizers have scheduled a 5K run/walk at Echo Park for Sunday. The event will be limited to the first 1,000 participants who register early.
The festival began in 1972, when it was known as “The Day of the Lotus.” The Department of Recreation and Parks and the Council of Oriental Organizations timed the event with the blooming of the lotus flowers at Echo Park Lake.
In 1990, it was renamed “The Lotus Festival,” and the Lotus Festival Advisory Board was created to feature representatives from various API communities.
The lotus flowers have been part of Echo Park Lake for more than a century, dating back as early as 1891, according to the Department of Recreation and Parks. Some theories suggest the flowers were planted between 1923 and 1924 by missionaries from the Angels Temple using lotus seeds from China.