The Fiesta is Lakewood’s longest-running community event, dating back to the mid-1940s.
It began as a handshake between two friends and fellow Lakewood Lions Club members. Dr. Walter Montano, the former Bolivian Consul to Los Angeles, and Jesse Solter, a local schoolteacher, agreed to begin a program to foster good relations with Lakewood’s Latin American neighbors--pictured riding in a parade (right).
Read the full story about the origin of the Pan Am Fiesta.