Today we went to the annual Songkran (Thai New Year) festival in Thai Town, the area of east Hollywood with a concentration of Thai restaurants, markets, and other stores.They had closed down a 10-12 block section of Hollywood Boulevard, from maybe Vermont Avenue all the way to Western Avenue (if you're not familiar with Los Angeles, the section of Hollywood Blvd most tourists visit is two or three miles further west, with Grauman's Chinese Theater, the El Capitan Theater, and Hollywood and Vine). We parked across from the Sunset/Vermont subway station and rode the MTA Red Line to Western Avenue.
The festival organizers had long sections of booths, two wide, all the way down Hollywood Blvd. The first booth we visited had amazingly detailed fruit carving, including flower designs cut from a watermelon and a swan cut from a melon.
We came across a kid's play area, with coloring tables, sand boxes, and bubble-makers. My wife spent about twenty minutes there with our daughter, while I searched for the parade location.
On the way, I found a boxing ring featuring Thai kickboxing demonstrations, a stage with Thai cultural acts, and many people dressed in traditional Thai costumes.I made my way back, and we worked our way through the crowds to the end of the parade route, at Hollywood and Kingsley. A woman at the information booth had told me the parade would be turning down Kingsley, but when the start of the parade reached where we were, the marchers simply disbanded and disappeared into the crowds.
As we worked our way back to Western, we saw Mayor Villaraigosa dressed in fairly ordinary clothes walking with a couple of aides toward the stage. My wife asked me, "Why don't you take a picture?" I told her that I had seen the mayor at least a dozen times before (I believe he rides in every parade held in the city of Los Angeles) .
My wife did a little shopping at a Thai market that we often visit, and we spent some more time at the children's play area before returning home via the MTA Red Line.
A vendor selling the stinkiest fruit known on the seven continents, the durien. It is quite popular in countries like Thailand and Vietnam. Apparently it is an acquired taste, like Americans' love for peanut butter.
