The Hungarian Consulate in Los Angeles was the chief patron of the event which was organised by locally published Hungarian language periodical Amerikai Magyar Napló and the Hungarian restaurant Maximilian?s in Hollywood.
About a thousand people came to the festival where they tried delicacies prepared by Maximilian?s owner and chef László Bossányi as well as Hungarian wine and cheese brought by shops that carry such goods in Los Angeles.
The Hungarian Consulate treated the festival as an off-site working day, informing interested people about the possibility of becoming Hungarian citizens as well as other consular matters.
The folk dance troupes Kárpátok and Búzavvirág performed on a stage set up in the parking lot of Maximilian?s.
György Mátsik, the owner and editor-in-chief of Amerikai Magyar Napló, said in his remarks opening the festival that he hoped the event would become a tradition in Los Angeles.
Consul General Balázs Bokor said local Hungarians needed such an event to strengthen their solidarity. Bokor also delivered a message of welcome from the mayor and city council of Los Angeles in the name of the Hungarian-born city commissioner Andrew Friedman.
