Lotus Festival at Echo Park Lake

Admire Echo Park Lake at its most glorious moment on the calendar.

To everything, there is a season, it is often said (and correctly so).

The purple prettiness of the jacaranda tree rules May, and part of June, too, 'round Southern California, while the oaks of Griffith Park go golden-brown come November. Even the Santa Ana Winds make a regular showing in fall, adding one more element of nature we know will come back around at a particular moment on the calendar.

In that family of annual appearances is the lotus, which typically opens its petals in July and August. The middle of July is prime lotus-viewing time, if you know where to find them, and one of the famous expanses happens to be the watery one at 751 N. Echo Park Avenue.

We speak of the Lotus Festival, which will bloom for its 36th year at Echo Park Lake on Saturday, July 9 and Sunday, July 10. 

The main and highly picturesque show is the expanse of green, yellow, pink, and white leaves and petals out on the water, but there are on-shore to-dos, too, from a food area specializing in Asian dishes to entertainment to arts & crafts.

The Republic of Korea is the festival's host country.

If you can't get enough of this showy show, and you need to love upon a few more lotuses while they're putting on their once-a-year show, make for The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens, which boasts a beautiful pond brimming with the floral icon.

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Or go a bit further afield, to the historic Ganna Walska Lotusland in Santa Barbara, which is hosting its yearly Lotusfest! on Saturday, July 9. (The flowers will still be in bloom past the festival, but don't dally.)

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