By Eloin Barahona Garcia
The Taiwan Boba Festival was abound with lots of cheer and plenty of patrons on Saturday. Families lined up at the various booths at Barnes Park to enjoy the various Taiwanese dishes and snacks on display. In addition to the enjoyable food, there were plenty of cultural booths for patrons to explore and educate themselves on the various facets of Taiwanese culture. The festivities kicked off at 10 am with rousing performances that both enthralled and delighted the crowd.
For the longest time, the Taiwan Boba Festival was known by a different name. Previously known as the Taiwanese American Heritage Week Festival, the name change suggests an attempt to draw in the greater communities of Los Angeles. Indeed, despite most of the performances being themed explicitly around Taiwanese culture, there was one surprising “folklórico” (a predominantly Mexican folk dance) performance as well. The theme of this year’s festival seemed to have a greater emphasis on unity among various cultures.
In addition to all of the performances, various important figures got on stage to give some remarks for that day’s festivities. Of note was the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office’s Director General Amino C.Y. CHI’s own remarks in regards to Taiwan’s continued relationship with the United States. In his own words, the Director General reminded the audience of the kind of cooperation that the two countries shared. “The substantial cooperation between our two countries expands from economy and trade, science and technology to security and education. We hope to further strengthen our partnership in the years to come.”
No truer words were spoken that day, as all the remarks from other distinguished guests rang brilliantly among the energetic crowd. To bookend the remarks, a group photo to commemorate this year’s festivities was taken before performances resumed on stage. Despite the abundance of Taiwanese food and predominantly Asian community that came out to enjoy the festivities, the beautiful melting pot that America is known for was still on display. People from all walks of life seemed to equally enjoy the activities and wonderful food that the festival had to offer. In today’s uncertain times, such a sense of unity is heartening to see in public.
