Brief History of the Lotus Festival

2006 Festival Photo via LA Taco

Since we didn’t publish our usual “Flashback Friday” history post yesterday, with the Lotus Festival going on I thought it’d be a good opportunity to do a quick history of the Fest.

"Lotus Festival in the 1970s." Flickr photo by La Angelena

The Lotus Festival started out being called “The Day of the Lotus,” and debuted at Echo Park Lake in 1972 thanks to the Department of Recreation and Parks and members of the Council of Oriental Organizations (COO). Each festival takes place in July, timed for the blooming of the lotus flowers. Starting out as one-day affairs, the Day of the Lotus was designed to promote awareness of the contributions by Asian Americans to our culture and communities. The festival focuses on a different Asian ethnicity each year, this year they will showcase the Chinese culture.

The Festival was renamed “Lotus Festival” in 1990, and include the theme: “The Peoples and Culture of the Pacific Rim.” In 1991 the Lotus Advisory Board was developed, and included representatives from various Asian and Pacific Island communities.

"Lotus Festival in the 1970s." Flickr photo by La Angelena

I’m not sure when the dragon boat races began exactly, but the Dragon Boat website says it started when “the festival had a Chinese opening day ceremony.”

The origin of the lotus themselves are murky. Possible mentions of the lotus bed goes back as early as 1891, when development of the actual park first began (fun fact – it was first a reservoir and cost $5,637.00 to fill the newly formed lake with city water). However, that is not confirmed, and it’s more likely they showed up in 1923 or 1924. I have also read accounts of there maybe being two beds of lotus plants in the lake instead of just one.

Though there are rumors about the origins of the plants themselves (including that the Angeles Temple missionaries planted them using seeds from China), noone knows really where they came from or when. According the LA Parks website, the existing lotus plants in the lake are assumed to be “biologically linked to the original plants” as they are unaware of any supplemental planting since the original bed was created.

Even though the lotus flowers in Echo Park Lake were often considered the largest outside of Asia, the Echo Park Historical Society notes it’s only the largest in the Western U.S., citing larger beds in “the Carolinas, Hawaii and possibly Florida.”

The last couple of years have been difficult for the Lotus Festival. In 2007, the Lotus bed seemed to be dying off, and now are completely gone probably due to pollution and temperature changes. Last year the Lotus Festival was canceled due to city budget cuts, instead the community held the Echo Park Community Festival. When the city rebuilds Echo Park Lake, starting construction in April 2011, the Lotus bed will be a part of the rehab. You can also read a fact sheet from the Dept. of Parks and Rec about why the lotus went in decline  and what they’re doing about by clicking here (for instance, they planted nine tubers this year to see if they will grow).

Thank you to “La Angelena” of LAHistory on Twitter for the photos – it’s been hard finding pictures of the early days of the Lotus Festival!