Eleventh International Conference on Food Studies

Abstract

While festive gatherings bring communities together, it is the foodways of these events that offer an opportunity to garner more insights about culture and people. This paper focuses on the role of food and drinks in multiple community festivals and parades in the Southern California region of the United States pre-pandemic cancellations as they reveal altruistic, entrepreneurial, and cultural beliefs, practices, and influences. Ethnographic methods (i.e., interviews, photography, video recordings, and participant observation in cultural settings) were employed to document what is prepared, shared, and sold, along with inquiries about personal motivation. Some of the festive events to be discussed include the Bangladesh Day Parade and Festival, Sikh Baisakhi Celebration, Taste of Ecuador Food Festival & Parade, Little Saigon Westchester Tet Parade, South Bay Greek Festival, Central American Independence Parade, Kingdom Day Parade, East L.A. Mexican Independence Day, Topanga Days Parade, and Torrance Armed Forces Day Parade.