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FOMO? We take you inside the sold-out Cake Picnic in Santa Monica
Cake Picnic in Santa Monica on Sept. 27,
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Makenna Sievertson
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If you have ever had a craving for cake — hundreds and hundreds of different cakes — on a Saturday morning, Cake Picnic is here to satisfy your dreams.
Cake Picnic is exactly like what it sounds like — a feast of cake, cake, cake, cake, cake, as Rihanna might say. The idea came to Bay Area organizer and passionate baker Elisa Sunga about a year ago when she started a small gathering to bring friends and fellow dessert lovers together to eat as many cakes as possible.
There's just one rule: No cake, no entry.
For the inaugural picnic, Sunga hoped at least 15 people would come, but she was quickly swarmed with hundreds of RSVPs after posting about it on Instagram.
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FOMO? A preview of Cake Picnic, the Internet-destroying event in LA today
“I was really scared, I was like, ‘did I just become the joke of the internet,’” she said. “Because I was very serious about my cake requirement, but I don't know if anyone else was.”
To her surprise, 183 people came with cakes to the first San Francisco picnic in April 2024, and she said the events have continued to grow ever since.
Cake Picnic is now an official international tour, with several stops completed across Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, London and New York, and even more on the horizon.
Sunga has seen more than 4,000 cakes across the picnics, including 253 last summer in L.A. and more than 1,350 in San Francisco in March.
Today, Cake Picnic returns to the L.A. area — specifically at Tongva Park in downtown Santa Monica. A limited number of $30 tickets were up for grabs, and the event sold out in minutes.
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The official cake count today, according to organizers: 483.
Without further ado
Cakes at Cake Picnic in Santa Monica.
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Makenna Sievertson
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LAist
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Cakes at Cake Picnic -- plus two "cake pies".
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Makenna Sievertson
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Irving Barcenas in front of his concoction, a "pinata cake."
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Makenna Sievertson
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LAist
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A very tall cake.
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Makenna Sievertson
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LAist
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Makenna Sievertson
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LAist
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Makenna Sievertson
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LAist
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LAist reporter Makenna Sievertson is at Cake Picnic. Her submission is the sweet and savory pineapple upside down cakes in the left foreground, which she baked with LAist's Yusra Farzan.
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Makenna Sievertson
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Makenna Sievertson
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Makenna Sievertson
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The happy aftermath.
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Makenna Sievertson
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LAist
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But the game has changed: Congress voted to eliminate funding for public media across the country. Here at LAist that means a loss of $1.7 million in our budget every year. We want to assure you that despite growing threats to free press and free speech, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust. Speaking frankly, the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news in our community.
We’re asking you to stand up for independent reporting that will not be silenced. With more individuals like you supporting this public service, we can continue to provide essential coverage for Southern Californians that you can’t find anywhere else. Become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission.
Thank you for your generous support and belief in the value of independent news.
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