I came to City Heights not knowing what to expect of the 4th annual San Diego Lantern Festival. I anticipated that it would be another one of those ceremonies where people simultaneously send lanterns out into the sky, hot air balloon style, like some mass release of potential fire hazards. Luckily, for both the city of San Diego and any unob- servant birds in the area, the lanterns were all grounded and not to be used as flare guns.
Strung across the festival like oriental Christmas lights, the lanterns were a lovely sight to behold. The Vietnamese decorations were much more appealing to the eye than the Weinerschnitzel next door. To learn more about this luminous ritual, I spoke with Frank Vuong, chairman of the festival’s host, the Little Saigon Foundation.
“The lanterns we feature are specifically from the ancient town of Hoi An, a unique town in central Vietnam with lots of cultural beauty and history,” Vuong said. “The lanterns are special, as they are all handmade from silk and embroidered with intricate designs. I don’t think there are any other lantern festivals like it in southern California, so I think we are pretty unique in that sense.”
Like a traditional carnival, the event had rides, booths, music and eccentric carnies. There were jewelry, flowers, fresh pho cuisine, lion dancing and those impossible carnival games nobody ever wins.
They even had the classic carousel ride, which I’ve always found a bit unsettling—not only do we impale the horses with giant copper poles, but we force them to run in a never-ending circle while being ridden by complete strangers.
However, there was one ride that made all of my wildest dreams come true. In front of me were half a dozen children blundering around in giant, over-sized hamster balls floating on top of an inflatable pool. I was born a decade too soon.
I spoke with Lee Vincent, founder of the attraction. “I started Blue Elephant Bubble Carnivale about a year ago when I saw something similar along the outskirts of Paris. I had the pool custom made, thirty feet in diameter, and each bubble is six feet in diameter with a weight capacity of 300 pounds,” Vincent said. “I’m a grandfather, and I couldn’t be happier that all I get to do all day is watch little kids have a good time.”
The festival’s purpose, other than to make visitors nauseous with a colossal, pendulum-style ride called “The Loop,” is to aid in Little Saigon’s community development and revitalization strategy for the City Heights area. By bringing in more local tourism, the foundation plans to boost the local business economy and, therefore, the quality of life for its residents.
“City Heights has been known for its more or less blighted condition for a long time,” Vuong said. “There have been many efforts to improve City Heights throughout the years, but the speed of the ef- fort is somewhat slow, and a lot of people want to invest into this area to see it better.”
“Areas like Little Italy, Old Town, or North Park, they’ve all been branded as a place to be,” he continued. “Branding thearea as a cultural district and a tourist destination is our strategy for revitalization.”
Overall, my visit to City Heights was quite enjoyable. Winning a free month of jujitsu classes probably had a good deal to with that. I did feel the comfort from the area’s friendly people and good-natured community, despite the area’s initally questionable appearance. I’m sure if the Little Saigon Foundation continues to host more charming events such as this one, in due course the area will start to shine in a different light.
