The Lack of Lotus Festival

For as long as I can remember, I’ve made it a point to attend The Lotus Festival in Echo Park. For three days, you can celebrate a fair share of Asian and Pacific Island culture: there are various stages that feature poets, musicians, and dancers; plenty of artisan booths selling everything from sarongs to paper-cut art; a generous array of food ranging from meats-on-sticks to sticky rice and mango; a spectacular fireworks display that remind you of the best kisses you’ve ever had; and of course the ubiquitous lily pads and lotuses which heavily dot Echo Park Lake. Except this year, there were no lotuses.

Olga Morales works with Prop O, a multi-million dollar water quality improvement program, funded by the City of Los Angeles. At a small booth away from most of the action at the Festival, Olga explained that over the past few months, the lily pads began disappearing until there were none left. Apparently, the lake is so polluted with toxins like lead that it can no longer support plant life. (What that means for the birds, duck, geese and fish that live there is yet to be seen.) Prop O is currently in the “preliminary design” stage, but over the next few years, the lake will be drained and re-lined, and a system will be set in place to filter out pollutants. And although I’m weary about what all this might mean for the homeless population that calls Echo Park Lake home, I am relieved that there is a plan in place to re-create an ecosystem that will support the lotuses – because it’s really a drag to go to a Lotus Festival, minues the um… lotus!

As the lily pads began to disappear, someone had the good idea to rescue some seedlings, which were dropped in fresh water in a small trashcan. So that’s what it’s come down to, folks: three tiny lily pads in a small trashcan. Here’s what’s left of what used to be hundreds of lily pads, which are the beds that the lotuses need to thrive on.

I couldn’t help but think about what is happening at Echo Park Lake is analogous to what is happening around the world in general: it seems that when we do not take good care of what we have, it slowly disappears. And just as I was coming to that conclusion, the fireworks began, and I lost myself in the beautiful craze of lights on the LA skyline: