Posts Tagged ‘2009 Korean Festival in LA’

Final Day of 2009 Korean Festival in LA

Sunday, September 20th, 2009

Fourth and final day of the Korean Festival in Los Angeles… Managed to make it this afternoon and catch several dance and martial-arts performances on stage. A few were lamely presented (it’s almost always a matter of packaging, ppl…) but it wasn’t a total waste of time to be in the audience.

Korean Traditional Dance with Drums

These girls were so good. They came on several times performing different traditional Korean dances — with fans, these drums they carry that you see in the picture, and later on with stationary drums. I do have video clips and I’ll be processing them in the coming days.

Also visited more of the booths and had time to chat more, compared to my just passing through last Friday. McDonald’s finally showed up, but I didn’t bother lining up for their giveaways. I headed across to Maeil and picked up samples of the new Enyo yogurt drinks, which I’ll review in another post. Didn’t spot the Maeil mascots today, though they still had the wheel and were giving away posters of Korean stars.

Of all the South Korean provinces showcasing their wares at the festival, I was most impressed with KyeongSangNam Do (경상남도). All their representatives were friendly and helpful; one lady in particular did an awesome job explaining to me what their raison d’etre was. I definitely will devote a full blog post to their local products.

For a few minutes, I was hooked watching men (and a girl) take on the Marine Corps challenge. I’ll post the video clips soon… Lots to process… which is good. I love material, I mean content.

2009 LA Koreatown Parade: Cute Kids!!

Sunday, September 20th, 2009

These cute little girls provided one of the best performances during the Korean Festival Parade along Olympic Boulevard on the afternoon of September 19.

Realize how hard it is to dance down a street in unison and in full Korean costume with headgear! Saw other, older participants who couldn’t even be bothered to walk along properly… Props to the adults who taught these children to dance so well.

Am imagining what these girls are going to be when they grow up… I have additional video clips of them and of the maypole (?) around which the young Korean women right behind them danced. Posting soon…

Military Drummer at Koreatown Parade in LA

Sunday, September 20th, 2009

There were a lot of military vehicles during the parade. I voice-recorded a few notes as to what their units were but haven’t transcribed them yet, though I recall one being from the Gulf War. Lots of Korean-Americans in the military, quite a few who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan recently…

This distinguished gentleman was wearing a bow tie!

Again, apologies for the poor quality of the video clips. They actually don’t look so bad on my computer, but making another transfer to YouTube causes a lot of degradation. More colorful ones to come…

2009 Korean Festival Parade in Los Angeles

Sunday, September 20th, 2009

I’ve been poring over the video clips I took yesterday from the parade in Koreatown along Olympic Boulevard. So many good ones but it will take awhile to process them. Here’s one:

Traditional Korean costumes are so colorful. Such a shame that my old Flip camcorder was not up to the task of capturing the sights and sounds of the event. Oh, well. My luck will turn someday and then I’ll be able to afford a Flip UltraHD… I hope in time before next year’s Korean parade…

Sunday is the final day of the 2009 Korean Festival in Los Angeles. Till around 9 or 10 pm.

2009 Korean Festival Parade in Koreatown

Saturday, September 19th, 2009
Korean Parade Sign in Koreatown
Just came back from watching the 2009 Korean Festival Parade on Olympic Boulevard. The entourage originated from Catalina Avenue near Vermont but I was stationed nearer to Western Avenue.

Took so many pictures and so much video. It’ll take me forever to process them. Here’s a few…


Girl in Stroller with Two Flags at Parade

Her Mommy is the one in the background trying to get a picture of her son in the parade. (He looked so embarrassed.) The child in the stroller is carrying two national flags! There were also a lot of Mexican flags and floats participating so that was really cool. And the people lining the street were something like 60% Latino (Salvadoran…) and 35% Korean. The announcements were mostly in Korean — it is the Korean Festival in a place called Koreatown, after all. The parade’s progress was slow but there were enough highlights that I didn’t find it a waste to go.



Korean Girls at Koreatown arade
These young girls worked their tiny behinds off. They were the most indefatigable group in the parade!

Will post the rest of the photos and video clips soon!

FBI and DEA at 2009 Koreatown Festival

Saturday, September 19th, 2009

Very surprised to see the FBI and DEA at the Korean Festival in Los Angeles! But it does make sense to recruit government agents in the Korean-American community during a community event.

FBI at 2009 Koreatown Festival in Los Angeles

I didn’t know the Federal Bureau of Investigation had a Civil Rights Unit. The festival attendees were really interested. Opening myself up to the charge of stereotyping / typecasting, I bet these Korean women were looking for employment opportunities for their sons/husbands/nephews… Leave it to the women to proactively set things right in one’s household. (wink)

DEA at 2009 Koreatown Festival in Los Angeles

Next table was the 연방 마악 단속국 — the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), part of the US Department of Justice. Coincidentally, I was just reading up on the remnants of gangs in Koreatown. Where there are gangs, there are drugs to be sold to finance operations…

There were also young men in military fatigues whom I thought at first were recruiting for the South Korean army. Turns out they ‘re from the U.S. Marines and the Army too. You can still catch them at the 2009 Korean Festival in Los Angeles, running till Sunday (September 20).

Hawaiian Chicken at 2009 Koreatown Festival

Saturday, September 19th, 2009

When you enter the festival grounds of Seoul International Park from the north, this is the sight that greets you. Dozens of whole chickens roasting on an an open spit courtesy of Hawaiian Chicken. They say they can cook 1,000 chickens in less than three hours! 하와이안 숯불구이 통닭

Hawaiian Chicken at 2009 Koreatown Festival in LA

It’s Hawaiian-style Huli-Huli BBQ Chicken grilled using quality Kiawe charcoal. Huli-Huli is Hawaiian for ‘turn, turn.’

The restaurant was chosen by the editors of the the Los Angeles Downtown News as Best Cooked Chicken in downtown LA. It also has fresh mangosteen juice called Xango™ but the booth at the festival doesn’t have it.

Restaurant Hours : Monday–Wednesday, 11:00 a.m.– 9 p.m. Friday–Saturday, 11:00 a.m.–11:00 p.m. Closed on Thursdays and Sundays

Address: 686 N Spring Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012-2835
Phone number (866) 319-3867. Owner: Eugene Hong

Maeil Company at 2009 Koreatown Festival

Saturday, September 19th, 2009

Maeil was one of the more active companies proselytizing their brand during the 2009 Korean Festival in Los Angeles. It’s in stark contrast to McDonald’s who had the budget to plaster their signs all over the place but did not have a single representative present to staff a table or hand out samples.

Maeil Company Table at 2009 Koreatown Festival

It wasn’t just one table with young women proactively handing out cupfuls of Maeil yogurt drinks… they had several mascots roaming the grounds… and they had a really foxy Korean lady handling a game where you could turn a wheel to win a prize. Lots of people were lining up.

Maeil Company Mascots at 2009 Koreatown Festival

The mascots! I am very familiar with their Caffe Late line, but not with Enyo (엔요), a new product. Didn’t have time yesterday to pick up a sample or ask about it but it seems to be an organic yogurt drink for very young children. I’ll investigate today and post details later.