We're always in the mood for a great street festival -- loved the Thai New Year Fest in Thai Town; already miss the late, great Tofu Fest; consider the Lotus Festival in Echo Park (even sans lotus) as a standard; and think the Eagle Rock Music Festival is one of the best free events around. That's why we had high hopes for the sixth annual Historic Filipinotown Festival on Saturday... and came away kinda disappointed.
Granted, it's only the sixth edition -- indeed, it's only been six years since the neighborhood was even designated "Historic Filipinotown." And the festival also takes place in a wildly diverse neighborhood that's not even predominantly Filipino, possibly hurting attendance as well. Plus, it was hot. All those things conspired against the event. (It also didn't help that the postcard advertising the event wildly oversold it -- containing photos of Ferris Wheels and big-ticket rides, of which there were none.)
But probably the saddest part of the event was the sorry state of the carnival rides. Stationed one block over from where the festival booths and stage, the dirty, old rides sat empty -- and, as the Militant Angeleno noted, the carneys were kinda scary. At the very least, they semi-spooked me and the Kid Formerly Known as Blogger Toddler.
On the bright side, despite the small nature of the event, there was a decent turnout in the morning, and plenty of culture was on display. Some sights:
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