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.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.