LA Culture Festival
by the Hollywood Carnival
@ Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles, California
24 June 2017
In the spirit of the Carnivals/Carnevales of Brazil, Trinidad, and New Orleans, LA's Culture Festival this past weekend brought together troupes from the Bahamas to Bulgaria in what was essentially a massive block party/parade stretching over three miles of Hollywood Blvd.
The organizers' mission was to "express the colors of culture and freedom of the world as one people" and to "celebrate our cultures and traditions, featuring colorful costumes, dances, food, arts & crafts, and music from around the world."
We heard about the fiesta from one of the dancers on the Tobago team, who we randomly met on a Lyft ride the night before as luck would have it. Given the Salvador and Port of Spain Carnivals were both yet-to-be-done items on the bucket list, attending this was a no-brainer.
Beyond all the visual stimulation, just the music itself was unreal. Each country had its own moving stage that paraded down the boulevard - it was boom boxes on wheels meets the Three Kings' traveling caravan of biblical lore.
The Carnival has it all:
Calypso & Soca from Trinidad & Tobago
Samba from Brazil
Reggae from Jamaica
Zouke from Guadeloupe to Martinique
Salsa & Reggaeton from Puerto Rico
Punta from Honduras & Guatemala
Meringue from the Domincan Republic
Mariachi from Mexico
New York Jazz
New Orleans Blues
What was great to see was the effort that all the performers put forth to represent and celebrate their cultural heritage. Since so many of the places that were a part of this came from the Carribbean, it was surprising that this was in LA (instead of say, NY, which is much more well represented by the Carribbean nations). It just goes to show that the West Coast (and specifically Southern California) really is the cutting edge melting pot of the US, especially more so than NY, where the established elites, and the older, more traditional "Northeast" way of doing things preside. The establishment exists everywhere, but in LA, there is more open-mindedness, and more willingness to try, test, and express yourself.!
