Huntington Beach Diversity Celebrated at Events

From religious diversity at the' Blessing of the Waves, sponsored by the Orange County Interfaith Council, to ethnic diversity in events such as Oktoberfest and Pacific Islander Festival, (St. Patrick's Day and Cinco de Mayo are mostly celebrated at restaurants and bars,) Huntington Beach hosts a variety of events. Do they represent the local audience and residents of the area'

It turns out that Huntington Beach's event focus surrounds the beach and sports primarily, with events that appeal to all ethnicities. While only a portion of whites may attend Oktoberfest, Greek, Italian and other such cultural festivals and events do not currently exist. Likewise, nearly 20% of Huntington Beach is Hispanic, yet there is no event specifically honoring Latin culture and its music. Surf City Hispanics typically must go to Santa Ana, Commerce, Industry, Los Angeles and other such cities to participate in cultural events aimed at their specific demographic.

Recently Hispanics became the top ethnic group in the state and are expected to grow percentage-wise. 'It's expected that as this trend continues and Hispanics become more active in local politics in HB, we will see Huntington Beach's parks & recreation, community services and even private event planners introducing more Latin special events.

Possible event options could include Dia de los Muertos celebrations ideal for parks and rec with focus on arts & crafts building altars to honor the dead similar to a Harvest Festival event hosted at Rancho Los Alamitos in Long Beach, maybe a Chihuahua dog festival parade and celebration in the vein of Old World's dachshund races, a mariachi festival similar to the one day event that takes place in San Juan Capistrano at the mission, or other options that focus on music, art, food and culture.

It's not a matter of if, but when such opportunities to celebrate HB's culture will arise.

Huntington Beach demographics as recently as last year:

White alone -'128,453 (66.6%)
Hispanic -'35,329 (18.3%)
Asian alone -'20,747 (10.8%)
Two or more races -'5,023 (2.6%)
Black alone -'1,370 (0.7%)
American Indian alone -'1,193 (0.6%)
Other race alone -'504 (0.3%)
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone -'248 (0.1%)