Mark MauerPhotos by Ted Soqui
For the second year in a row, Echo Park's Lotus Festival will be without lotuses. In fact, it appears the plants are in worse shape this year than they were last year (See end of this post for some photos from last year). Two years ago the lotuses did bloom, but arrived too late for the festival.
The Lotus Festival will still happen this weekend (Details here www.laparks.org/grifmet/lotus.htm), and I have no doubt it will still be great family fun, with lots of dancing, Asian and Pacific Island food, music, and plenty of sunshine. But it's sad that the festival itself won't feature the namesake flowers.
Last year, a few lotuses – and more of the plants did actually make it to mid-July.
Click here for more photos of what's left of Echo Park's lotuses.
Above three photos by Mark Mauer, 2007. All other photos by Ted Soqui, 2008.
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