07/14/2026
CAPIAA was honored to join attendees at the 45th Lotus Festival to celebrate this year's featured culture, Sri Lanka. Held at the Echo Park Lake, this tradition continues to bring people together to learn from one another and celebrate the traditions, stories, and contributions that strengthen California.
This year's Lotus Festival Honorees reflect the extraordinary contributions of the Sri Lankan community across an impressive range of fields. Among them are international diplomats, a Grammy Award-winning musician, an anthropologist, physicians, entrepreneurs, NASA scientists, astrophysicists, higher education leaders, biomedical engineers, and medical device innovators. Through their groundbreaking work, they have advanced diplomacy, science, healthcare, education, technology, and the arts, inspiring future generations in California and around the world.
For more than 45 years, the Lotus Festival has created opportunities for communities to celebrate our differences, deepen our understanding of one another, and showcase the incredible diversity that makes California so vibrant.
Thank you to Los Angeles Lotus Festival, Inc., the City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks, the Lotus Festival Planning Committee, and the many volunteers whose dedication continues to make this incredible tradition possible.
This year's festival was presented in partnership with Her Excellency Achini Perera, Consul General of Sri Lanka, whose collaboration helped showcase Sri Lanka's culture and traditions. Thank you also to Mayor Karen Bass, Assemblymember Jessica Caloza, Councilmember Hugo Soto-MartĂnez, and KTLA's Ginger Chan for helping make this year's celebration so memorable.
A special thank you to Mohammed Ahsan and Steve Lee for their outstanding leadership in organizing and growing the Lotus Festival year after year. CAPIAA was proud to present Certificates of Recognition to leaders from the Department of Recreation and Parks Lotus Festival Committee and Los Angeles Lotus Festival, Inc., in recognition of their dedication to preserving one of California's longest-running celebrations of AANHPI cultures. Thank you for welcoming us to this incredible tradition, and we look forward to returning next year to celebrate another culture.
