By Mayor Mark E. Pulido
The 16th annual Festival of Friendship will be held on Saturday, February 7 from noon to 4 p.m. at the Los Cerritos Center. Each year I look forward to this event, which is a celebration of our City’s rich diversity and the friendships that bring our community together.
The popular festival is presented by the City of Cerritos and the Let Freedom Ring Committee, in conjunction with the Los Cerritos Center. Once again this year, the event will feature a variety of cultural entertainment on various stages, with local groups performing an assortment of ethnic songs and dances. Our town’s diverse population brings a cultural richness to the community that is celebrated at this event through dance, music and educational displays.
Cerritos is a community with people of many cultural backgrounds from around the world. Through the Festival of Friendship, the City of Cerritos is proud to showcase the cultural traditions of these diverse groups and to recognize the many different people who live, work and play together in Cerritos.
The groups who will be generously sharing their cultures at this year’s Festival of Friendship include Da’ Hawaii Seniors Club, Afro-Caribbean Dance Revue, Cerritos Folk Dancers, Amor de Mexico, Cerritos Chinese-American Senior Citizens Association, Chinese Culture Association of Southern California, PHILSELA, Oriental Moo-Do School, Liberty Park Tot Lot, JC Culture Foundation, Adaptive Recreation, Praise Dance, Chinese Yun-Chi Dance Association of America, Na Ipo Hula, Whitney High School Shanti Club, Southern California Phil-US Veterans Association, Filipino Cultural School, Four Seasons Autoharp, Ray Shine Choir, Puniwai Hula Halau, Dancefit Direct, Susana Elena Classical Spanish & Flamenco Dance, Emerald Isle, Filipino Seniors of Cerritos and Island Vibes.
The performances will be presented on three different stages: the Forever 21 Stage, the Sears Stage and the Nordstrom Stage & Children’s Area. Attendees can visit each stage to receive a special commemorative gift. For more information about this year’s Festival of Friendship, call the City’s Recreation Services Division at (562) 916-1254.
I can proudly say that Cerritos is a great example of people from diverse cultural backgrounds living together in harmony. It is rewarding to be mayor of a highly diverse City where our residents enjoy learning about the many cultures of the world and celebrating those cultures with events such as the Festival of Friendship. Please join us at this colorful event next month!
Many former patrons of the Los Cerritos Mall, have abandoned shopping at the center due to the racism being played out during the festival of friendship. The festival does not represent all countries throughout the world, only depicts a certain group of Cerritos residents. USA is about all diversity, not just portion called China areas. Furthermore, Mark, you took a vow during your campaign election to be transparent. So why isn’t the Let Freedom Ring committee, televised on television, is this is one of many groups which is not being televised, plus this committee is being sponsored by Cerritos Residents,… Read more »
City council elections in March. Diversity tossed out the window. Drive your local hoods and check out the campaign signs. See what ethnic group lives in what house and who votes for who. Little diversity when voting in Cerritos. Even if you abuse your term in office, as long as we come from the same ethnic group I am either voting for you or I am not voting. Chinese – Officer Vo (Appointed to commission by frequent communist China visitor Councilman Carol Chen) Chinese – DisGRACEd HU (revoked escrow license by state of California http://www.dbo.ca.gov/ENF/pdf/f/fe_Hu.pdf) Filipino – Double Dipping PULIDO… Read more »
http://cerritos.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view_id=15&clip_id=3394&meta_id=81594 Mayor Mark Pulido (D) RE:Cerritos dog park. Why wasn’t the meeting on Tuesday January 13th 2015, advertised to the public to attend? You promised transparency, it’s not in hard task, to identify all the dog owners in Cerritos, ( Via Public Lic Records ) or advertised in the newspaper of an upcoming event as popular as a Cerritos dog park. Why was this meeting hidden in the Sheriff’s Conference Rm and not the council chambers? You had a city council meeting on 1/8/2015, you or staff or City Mgr could of informed the public of this Special Meeting held… Read more »