More than 5,000 people attended Festival Beverly Hills at Beverly Gardens Park on July 12 for a day of cultural music, immersive dance, hands-on workshops and an array of culinary offerings.
Visitors enjoyed a wide variety of performances across four different stages, ranging from cultural dances to jazz, DJs and live bands. Standout performers included Maruja Limon, an all-female Spanish quintet; Elida Almeida, a Cape Verdean-born singer; and Anibal Seminario, a Latin Afro-Peruvian jazz saxophonist and producer.
During downtime from live performances, Matt B and Zuri Marley, Bob Marley’s granddaughter, provided the beats for festivalgoers to dance and connect with each other, courtesy of the Los Angeles Chapter of the Recording Academy.
Shirin Azar, who just moved to Los Angeles from Arizona, said she came to the festival to experience the Iranian community in Beverly Hills and enjoy the city’s arts offerings.
“We are trying to know more about Los Angeles and the Iranian culture in Los Angeles, to connect with them,” Azar said. “Immigration is hard enough. We really appreciate that Los Angeles gives us this opportunity to have this bonding experience with our cultural heritage and our people and get to know them. It’s really a good opportunity to feel like home.”
The Farhang Foundation, a partner for the event, closed out the night with a performance from the Iranian pop group Black Cats.
“We are incredibly proud of the city of Beverly Hills and its vibrant multicultural spirit, so beautifully reflected in Festival Beverly Hills,” Farhang Foundation CEO Alireza Ardekani told the Courier. “It has been a tremendous honor for the Farhang Foundation to participate for the third consecutive year and to bring a flavor of Iranian culture to the festival through music and food. This year’s record-breaking public turnout made the celebration especially meaningful. We applaud the city of Beverly Hills and Community Life Beverly Hills for their continued commitment to celebrating the city’s rich diversity and ensuring that Iranian culture is meaningfully represented and embraced.”
Mastaneh Moghadan, executive director of the community counseling center Cross Cultural Expressions, brought visitors together for a rock painting exercise at her organization’s table. The exercise emphasized one of the organization’s main missions, which is to bring about healing through art therapy, nature and by bridging cultural gaps, Moghadan said. She added that the significance of the festival was that it brought together different people from different cultures.
“I just had a group of teenagers here, and they’re all speaking Farsi together, and I’m like, wow, do American Iranian teenagers still speak Farsi together?” she said. “Programs like this are just wonderful because they bring people together in a non-combative way, to incorporate music, and introduce different cultures, and all kinds of arts and healing. I think it’s a beautiful thing.”
Daniela Macia, a member of Casa del Cultura Maya, hosted a painting exercise to illustrate the day of the Monkey in the Mayan calendar to honor and celebrate Mayan culture.
“We’re not a myth. The Mayan community is still very prominent in L.A.,” she said. “Our traditions have never vanished. They’ve always been here, so preserving them and bringing our community back to the roots and even people who might not be from Maya, understanding that keeping a certain connection to our ancestors is a good way for understanding our connectedness to Mother Earth.”
Visitors walked around and took part in a variety of other offerings, including Little Ethiopia’s traditional coffee ceremony, a soccer-themed zine-making activity with Las Fotos Project and maraca-making with the Neighborhood Music School.
Vibrant dance groups performed throughout the day, including Viver Brasil Dance, an Afro-Brazilian dance group; Shivam Arts Dance, a northern Indian dance group; and Nusantara Dance Company and Balinese Peacock Dance.
The Bulgarian consulate, the Romanian consulate, the Indonesian consulate, the Trinidad and Tobago consulate and the Chinese American Cultural Association all provided diverse cultural programming throughout the festival.
Geregely Homonnai, a tourist from Hungary, said that Festival Beverly Hills reminded him of Europe in how worldly the event was and in seeing everyone out and walking around.
“We didn’t know that there would be a festival, but we are enjoying it. There’s nice food, nice people, everyone’s hanging out. Everyone’s smiling,” he said. “In Europe we are used to that kind of stuff. Europe has common ground, but at the same time, it’s diverse.”
The festival offered something for everyone. David Shakivkhou, a Beverly Hills resident, said his favorite part of the day was coming together with his family to experience different cultures.
“They’re trying to get the community together and be united together,” he said. “I see different cultures and different people from different countries. They have their own booths, and they have their own bands, and they come together and we get to know each other’s nationalities, culture and customs.”
