Cambodian parade success welcomed

Organizers predict another large crowd for New Year's Festival in two weeks.

04/09/2007
By Greg Mellen, Staff writer
Long Beach Press Telegram

LONG BEACH - On Monday, as organizers of the third annual Cambodian New Year parade and celebration went about the dull process of disassembling floats, there was still a residual sense of excitement about the weekend event's success.

There is also hope that the momentum from Saturday's parade can be carried over to the community's annual New Year's Festival in two weeks at El Dorado Regional Park.

Parade organizer Richer San joked how much harder it was to get volunteers to break down the floats than erect them. But he was still happy at the parade attendance.

"I think we had more people turn out than in the past two years," San said of a crowd he generously estimated at 14,000.

Despite cloudy skies and the event occurring on Easter weekend when many families go out of town, the crowd was upbeat and seemingly larger than last year.

The parade itself also reached new highs, with 91 entries easily eclipsing last year's 62.

"We got so many entries we had to turn some away," San said.

San added that several local merchants along the parade route reported strong sales as well.

City representatives were also pleased.

"It seemed it was really well-attended and there were very positive results," said David Ashman, manager for the city's Special Events Bureau.

Blair Cohn of the city said the events at the park were similarly well attended between 11:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. and concluded on schedule.

Perhaps most important, as of Monday afternoon, Ashman said his office had not received any complaints.

Buoyed by what they see as a breakout success, parade organizers are hoping for bigger and better things next year.

Whether such an idea will work remains to be seen. Last year, parade organizers apparently overstepped and allowed unpermitted vendors at MacArthur Park. This year, activities at the park were limited to informational booths and cultural, educational and entertainment stage presentations.

San says the parade met the city's permit requirements this time and hopes it will be rewarded.

"We were very on-schedule," San said, adding that the group cleaned up and was out of MacArthur Park by 3 p.m.

"Next year, we'd like to make (the parade) a little bigger. We want to turn it into a whole-day event," San said.

The annual festival will be held at El Dorado Park, Area 3, on Saturday, April 21.

The event is delayed this year in part to avoid conflicts with the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach and to allow elders to religiously observe the New Year at temple.

Festival organizer Peter Long says his group has already sold 1,000 tickets (one ticket is sold for a carload of people) and he expects the event to be near capacity and possibly a sellout.

Each year the festival includes traditional food, activities and entertainment.

This year, Long said that three new traditional stage performances have been added: a comedy, an opera/musical and a two-person play.

The festival runs from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. at El Dorado Park, 7551 E. Spring St., Long Beach. Admission is $20 per car in advance or $30 on the day of the event. Information on tickets can be found online at www.cam-cc.org or by phone at (562) 607-9261.

Greg Mellen can be reached at greg.mellen@presstelegram.com or (562) 499-1291.