School’s almost out — and summertime is just around the corner. Although the seasonal change may mean little to the average working adult, it’s an optimal time for the spirited youth of Los Angeles.
On Saturday, attendees soaked up the sun at the Boyle Heights Youth Fest (a.k.a. BHY Fest), a block party filled with free live music, community booths, resources, delectable bites and chilled agua fresca — plus a special meet-and-greet session with Lone Lobos podcast hosts and “Cobra Kai” stars Jacob Bertrand and Xolo Maridueña.
“It was a resource, [a] job fair if you will, so that children and youth in our communities could have an opportunity to explore options for them to do in the summer,” said Angie Jimenez. She works with the Boyle Heights Arts Conservatory, the lead organizers of the BHY Fest.
The annual celebration was established by El Centro de Ayuda over 20 years ago as a way to curb gang violence in the 1990s. BHY Fest was briefly paused during the COVID-19 pandemic, though by 2021 it has steadily built momentum once again that even “Real Women Have Curves” writer Josefina Lopez made a covert appearance.
But perhaps the most meaningful element of the BHY Fest is that the event is organized by youth for youth. As the media fixates on the digital natives known as Gen Z and Gen Alpha — often dismissing them as antisocial and entitledmembers of society — Saturday’s celebration showed that younger generations might actually have it all under control.
“The perception of today’s youth is that they don’t care, they’re lazy, they’re careless,” said Jimenez. “Not these kids. They’re on it. We love that they’re so engaged with the community. They know what they did today.”
With a walkie-talkie in hand, lead coordinator Adrian Salinas was hard to get a hold of. The 23-year-old UCLA graduate speedily walked up and down 1st Street to ensure there was enough dry ice in the coolers to keep the chamoy popsicles from melting — though, under the beaming sun, it was to no avail.
“There are still a lot of youth out in the world who care about the community. For example, we have a green space, a spot allocated for community orgs who are focused on sustainability, focused on environmental education,” said Salinas. “It shows that yes, we still care about the environment and sustainability.”
At the rock climbing wall, 14-year-old attendee Noah Luna waited in line for the second time of the day. He briefly returned back to his home in East L.A. to leave the free tree he got at the City Plants booth, a program funded by the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power that gives free trees to the community. He told The Times that there are misconceptions about young people just being on their phones.
“From what I see, that’s not true,” said Luna. “When I go out, I see a lot of people, a lot of artists out there. There’s people at the park.”
Although there were some electronic exceptions as the day cooled down.
Various teens and tweens alike held up their phones to record performances in the main stage — including the modern moves by Majorettes, a dance club out of the Ramón C. Cortines School of Visual and Performing Arts. Although 17-year-old dance captains Julian Dioulo and Meylay Archila said they were workshopping a new name: Pretty Pressure.
“We want to show other little kids or people that are scared to do this that it’s OK to go out there and be yourself,” said Archila.
The confidence was already rubbing off. Backstage, a handful of high-spirited elementary-age girls — known as Vista Horizon, a K-pop quintet from K-town — waved to them in awe and offered their congratulations.
When asked what the krumping duo love most about being young, they couldn’t help but point out the obvious physical differences.
“ I think the simplest answer is not being able to break my bones yet,” said Dioulo. “ I’m just kidding!”
“ You’re only young once,” Archila added. “ You can’t always move like this all the time.”
Senolavie, a local pop-punk group, drove in the early hours from Lancaster to deliver a much-needed head-banging session. Between the silly fart noises blurted on the mic, the trio played all the classic Blink-182 hits — among them “Josie,” “All the Small Things” — showing their peers and elders alike that rock is still alive and kicking.
“We’re playing music from an era before we were born,” said 16-year-old guitarist Ian Abarca. “With our music, we can sort of communicate with others from that era.”
For what it’s worth — at least for this Saturday afternoon — the kids seem to be doing just fine.
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