Lotus Festival - Los Angeles Hotels .com

July brings with it the first blooms of the lotus flower--a revered symbol of rebirth, purity, and life in many Asian cultures. This hot summer month also brings to LA the highly anticipated Lotus Festival, celebrating this venerated flower through traditional Chinese dragon boat races, Pacific Island and Asian cuisine, breathtaking flower shows, children's activities and much more.

The three-day festival is held at LA's Echo Park Lake, home to the largest lotus bed in the United States, with some plants that have been blossoming since the 1920s.

Nearly 200,000 visitors from all ethnic backgrounds flock to this popular event, which celebrates Asian and Pacific Islander cultures--from Filipino and Tongan to Japanese and Tibetan--through live music, dance, and other traditional entertainments, such as Chinese dragon dancers.

And while donations and registration for the ever-popular Chinese Dragon Boat Races help support the festival's Asian Youth Scholarship Program, this unique family oriented event is free and open to the public.

URL: http://www.laparks.org/grifmet/lotus.htm