UNITY FAIR TO OFFER BLEND OF CULTURES, FOOD, FUN
By Alex Dobuzinskis, Staff Writer

Los Angeles Daily News, CA
Oct 6 2005

GLENDALE – The city’s multicultural character will be on display
Sunday at the fourth annual Unity Fest, featuring singers and dancers
and ethnic food.

City Councilman Bob Yousefian started the festival in 2002.

“There were some conflicts (then) because the makeup of the city was
changing and it was shifting, and a lot of the people who had been
here for many, many years didn’t know what the Armenians were about
and they were very suspicious (of) them,” Yousefian said.

“Armenians didn’t know about the Hispanic culture or the Filipino
culture or the Korean culture. I thought this would be a good way of
introducing the different cultures to each other.”

The city-sponsored Unity Fest will be held from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Sunday at Verdugo Park. Thirteen groups will perform everything from
traditional Indian dance to Celtic music throughout the day.

Seven booths offering a variety of ethnic foods, including Korean
barbecue and Armenian food, will be set up. Fifteen arts and craft
booths with custom jewelry, costumes, books and pottery, are planned.

Unity Fest usually attracts 3,000 to 5,000 visitors, said Zizette
Ayad, senior administrative analyst with the city and an organizer
of the festival.

“It’s like a big, huge carnival or county-fair type of environment,”
Ayad said.

City Councilman Ara Najarian is the chairman.

“It’s just a chance to invite and entice residents with different
ethnic backgrounds to come together and meet as one … in a beautiful
park setting,” he said.

Alex Dobuzinskis, (818) 546-3304

alex.dobuzinskis@dailynews.com

IF YOU GO

Unity Fest 2005 will be held from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday at Verdugo
Park, 1621 Caada Blvd., Glendale. The event and parking are both free.