SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
The first rule of Cake Picnic is no cake, no entry. Started by a cake lover, it is a touring festival that is exactly what it sounds like - a picnic of cakes, where you cannot come unless you bring a dessert to share. From member station LAist, Makenna Sievertson got a slice and has the story.
MAKENNA SIEVERTSON, BYLINE: Sweet and savory cakes of all shapes and sizes filled Tongva Park in Santa Monica this past Saturday.
ELISA SUNGA: Welcome to the LA Cake Picnic.
(CHEERING)
SIEVERTSON: There were a limited number of tickets for entry, each costing $30. Tickets sold out in minutes. Tables are set up in the center of the park, where Irving Barcenas is placing his colorful pinata cake.
IRVING BARCENAS: I made it out of the Mexican wafers, which are obleas.
SIEVERTSON: Barcenas says the wafers give the carrot cake base a nice crunch. They're layered around the outside.
BARCENAS: I've been up since 3, OK (laughter).
SIEVERTSON: People are split into small groups and given pizza-sized boxes, a few napkins and a fork. The groups then have five minutes of free reign to...
SUNGA: Take as much cake as that five minutes will allow.
SIEVERTSON: And it goes by fast.
UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: Three...
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: My God.
UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: ...Two...
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: It's like there ahead of us. They're all ahead of us.
UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: ...One.
(CHEERING)
SUNGA: All right. Three, two, one. Find your cake.
SIEVERTSON: Kiara Upshur was able to snag a slice of the coveted Mona Lisa cake.
KIARA UPSHAR: There's like, figs in there, raspberries. So I'm really excited that I did get some of that.
SIEVERTSON: Cake Picnic started with Elisa Sunga's dream to eat as many as possible without having to bake them all herself. She's a home baker who works in tech.
SUNGA: What if I put together an event and invited everyone, but the requirement would be everyone has to bring a full cake?
SIEVERTSON: Nearly 200 people came to the first San Francisco picnic in April of 2024, and it has since grown to an international tour. But why cake?
SUNGA: I think it's such an art form that you can express so many things, whether that's your emotions, what's seasonal, what's trending, what you want to eat.
SIEVERTSON: You don't have to wait for the official tour to come to your city. Grab a few friends, find a crumb-friendly place to picnic and get baking. For NPR News, I'm Makenna Sievertson in Santa Monica.
(SOUNDBITE OF JONAS BROTHERS SONG, "SUMMER BABY") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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