Baby Krishna Serves Up Free Vittles in Venice
Friday, August 5, 2005 8:59When I was just a wee lass my friends and I semi-regularly partook in the Hare Krishna Temple’s feasts in downtown Brooklyn. When my subway tokens were all used up, my meal allowance completely blown on mixtapes, stencil posters and street jewelry, I occasionaly found myself with a few other broke friends at the free vegetarian feast held every Sunday at the temple. 
I kinda enjoyed being in the company of the disciples’ “pure heartsâ€? and “good attitudes,â€? and I admired the gentle (if often ecstatic) commitment to happiness and honesty. The incessant chanting and drumming I suppose I was less keen on… But after things quieted down, the recitations from the Bhagavad Gita worked like a charm to get me into a philosophical mood, albeit from the vantage point of a skeptical freebie-grubbing teen.
However, what I really loved about the Sunday feasts, and the reason I walked 20+ blocks to get there, was for the gratis, heaping plates of puris, pushpanna rice, samosas, pakoras, subjis, and mango lassis.
That’s why I’m blogging about the 29th annual Festival of the Chariots. It’s a teeny give back for all those free meals with no strings attached. This SoCal Hare Krishna celebration includes a parade, a free feast and live entertainment, near Venice Beach this Sunday, Aug. 7th.
The procession begins at 10 a.m. at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, 1855 Main St., Santa Monica and ends up near Ocean Front Walk and Windward Avenue in Venice, where the afternoon festivities begin. Once it reaches Venice, the festival will feature a free feast (20,000 plates prepared in the Krishna tradition) and three stages of live entertainment that includes drummers, sword fighters, Indian dance performance, drama and “mantra rock.” There will be exhibits on yoga and meditation, reincarnation, spirituality, vegetarianism and animal rights.
Mantra rock? You know you want to hear that. But be forewarned, this event is attended by up to 50,000 other pilgrims ISO free samosas. And if you’re not a Krishna fan, at least you know now to stay the hell away from the parade route Sunday.
More information here.
29th Annual Festival of the Chariots
Sunday, Aug. 7th
10AM - late afternoon
Starts in Santa Monica, ends near Ocean Front Walk/Winward Ave. in Venice
FREE FOOD!