¡Tacolandia and CicLAvia on Sunday, June 23rd!

So much is going on this Sunday for your taste buds and your health!

◙ Tacolandia: The LA Weekly is very excited to announce its first annual Tacolandia where Angelenos (and friends) may celebrate our city’s favorite food – tacos! The LA Weekly’s extraordinary summer taco fest will include a selection of over 30 taco creators from Los Angeles and Orange County and even a few all the way from Baja. There will also be music, a tequila garden, and so much more!

Bill Esparza

All this will be curated by the World’s First Tacorazzo, Bill Esparza. If you don’t know Bill, he is a self-described pro-musician who started the Street Gourmet L.A. blog and became a leading authority on Latin cuisines. He’s written for newspapers, magazines, and has appeared on TV as a guide and a host. Bill consults for restaurants, media, and corporations, and he has traveled all over Mexico, Central America, and South America.

WHEN: June 23, noon to 5:00 p.m.

WHERE: The Hollywood Palladium parking lot, 6215 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90028

COST: Check out pricing at official website

◙ CicLAvia: No cars, open streets and the opportunity to explore one of the most legendary boulevards in Los Angeles by foot, bike, skates or other non-motorized transport marks the June 23 CicLAvia – Iconic Wilshire Boulevard… the most walkable CicLAvia route ever!

Wilshire Boulevard was first carved out as a long path through a barley field in 1895. While its beginnings were humble, this path has transformed into one of the most notable boulevards in all of the United States.

From 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on CicLAvia day, participants can stroll through a snapshot of the city’s architectural evolution from Victorian vision to modernist experimentation; massive towers of business to intimate houses of worship; world class museums to mercados.

The CicLAvia – Iconic Wilshire Boulevard route will connect One Wilshire in Downtown Los Angeles to Fairfax Avenue along Miracle Mile. These two anchor hubs will feature pedestrian zones with performers, activities sponsored by several fantastic museums, programming by some of our community partners, food trucks and more. Additional hubs along the route include MacArthur Park, Koreatown and Mid-Wilshire.

The day will also include a series of free, downloadable stories about Wilshire Boulevard by noted architecture and culture writer and critic Edward Lifson, “The Modernist's Guide to Wilshire Boulevard” by Catherine Gudis and designed by Colleen Corcoran, a family friendly workshop inspired by the Googie-centric geometry of the 1950s with artist Marni Gittleman, and more. CicLAvia is open to the public and free of charge. Registration is not required and there is no starting or ending point along the route. CicLAvia – Iconic Wilshire Boulevard offers six miles of car-free, open streets and participants can join the fun at any point along the route.

IN OTHER NEWS…

My novel, The Book of Want (University of Arizona Press), is now available on Kindle! Here’s what a few of the critics said about my little book:

“Olivas’s brand of magical realism has a sense of humor about itself, and he succeeds in harnessing the genre’s unique ability to expose what’s beneath the surface.” —Los Angeles Magazine

“A fantastic short novel chronicling the lives of a family just like any other gabacho clan—except it’s Mexican and its matriarch visits from the other side.” —Gustavo Arellano, author of ¡Ask a Mexican! column

“The lives of a Mexican-American family living in Los Angeles unfold in surprising, sometimes delightful ways in Olivas’s debut novel (after story collection Anywhere But L.A.). Olivas’s approach to the novel resembles his approach to the collection; he resists following characters with regularity or predictability ... Olivas’s strands work their discreet charm....” —Publishers Weekly