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Los Angeles celebrates a birthday

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 5 (UPI) -- About 400 people participated in a weekend re-enactment of the 1781 journey of the original Spanish settlers to celebrate Los Angeles' 223rd birthday.

Participants in "Los Pobladores" assembled at 6 a.m. Saturday at the San Gabriel Mission, in San Gabriel, Calif., and walked nine miles to El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historic Park.

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"This great city of ours is a city like no other," said Los Angeles City Councilman Antonio Villaraigosa, who is running for Los Angeles mayor.

"My belief is, if you don't know your past, you can't understand your present, and you can't plan for the future."

The walk, organized by the city of San Gabriel, took most of the participants 2.5 hours to complete. Following the walk, there was a multicultural celebration that included birthday cake, food and performances from a variety of musical groups, the Los Angeles Daily News reported Sunday.

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