The Fiesta in Philippine Culture

Edmonton Filipino Fiesta

Fiesta is a Spanish and Latin word for a festive celebration of a religious holiday. In modern times, it connotes a feast, a holiday or a carnival. The Philippine culture is marked with various fiestas, both pagan and Christian in origin. These fiestas may commemorate a moment in history, the feast of a patron saint, or celebrate a bountiful harvest. The fiestas are so spread out in time and geography that it is virtually impossible to participate or witness them all. In fact, the Manila Broadcasting Company has organized the Aliwan Fiesta, an annual event that gathers the different cultural festivals, as a one-stop showcase not only to the people in Metro Manila, but as an attraction to those abroad.

Before the arrival of the Spanish colonizers, the Filipinos were already engaged in mystical beliefs, worshipping and appeasing gods believed to control their family, livelihood, prosperity, health and their safety.

Fiesta in Toronto

The Spanish colonizers, especially the friars, used the fiesta in converting the pagan Filipinos into Christianity. The processions, festivities, music and pomp, would lure the “natives” from the remote fields, into the “plaza” or centre of the town. Instead of outlawing the pagan celebrations, the dances and rituals were altered as offerings to the saints.

In these modern times, the fiestas may be used to promote economic, political or tourism objectives. But with every Filipino, it is a social time, a time for fellowship, and a holiday. Although most fiestas originated as religious events, it has become secondary to the general spirit of celebration.

Fiesta in Sacramento

Components of Filipino fiestas are banderitas (small flags), endless or continuous eating, processions, parades, dances, entertainment programs, religious or cultural rituals, trade fairs, pageants, games and contests and holy mass. Filipinos are known for their hospitality and there is no better avenue to showcase this than during a fiesta. One can be in a fiesta and partake in meals in several houses in one street!

Much like the fiestas organized by the early Spanish missionaries who were homesick, and flavored the festivities with practices back home, anywhere in the globe where there is a strong Filipino community, some form of fiesta has been celebrated. Go through any social media newsfeed and you will find Filipino fiestas held in North America, United Arab Emirates, Australia, and Europe. In Edmonton alone, there have been several events on patron saint’s feast days and regional festivals. Because as diverse as the Filipinos are in geography and ethnolinguistics, it is the fiesta that unifies us all. With its atmosphere of revelry and pageantry, the fiesta embodies what we crave for and aim to sustain - the invitation to connect, celebrate, and affirm the Filipino life and culture.

Fiesta in Honolulu

To quote Florentino H. Hornedo in his book Culture and Community in the Philippine Fiesta and Other Celebrations, the fiesta is rooted in the communitarian and expressive instincts of human nature, is a durable venue for Filipino culture and expressions, and is a symbol of Filipino sense of community as they struggle against modernization, involving individuals in their community. It serves as a cultural anchor, whereby the fiesta recreates for the Filipino a sense of being home, renewing his identity, and sense of belonging to a home and familial village.

Fiesta in Australia

History has shown how the fiestas serve as a tool for varying purposes. The Filipino fiesta in today’s context, especially abroad, is whatever we, as a Filipino, make of it. We shape it based on how we view our Filipino-ness and how we want it to be perceived and celebrated in the society or community we live in. It is a reflection of who we are in that point of time and location. It an event by the Filipino community, for the Filipino community and secondary to the other people in whatever foreign place the Filipino may be.

Edmonton will be having its own Edmonton Filipino Fiesta on June 9-11, 2017 at the Sir Winston Churchill Square. For more information, go to edmontonfilipinofiesta.com or philippineartscouncil.com/edmfilfiesta.


This article was published in the May 2017 issue of the Alberta Filipino Journal.

Edmonton Filipino Fiesta 2016

Everyone is invited to Sir Winston Churchill Square on June 11 and 12, 2016 to celebrate Edmonton's first Filipino

Fiesta!

"Fiesta" means festival and they are a renowned tradition of the Philippines. Held in almost every town and province in honour of each locale's patron saint, these joyful and grand celebrations are at the heart of Filipino culture. The fiesta is also about thanksgiving for a bountiful harvest, the blessings of a full life, an observance of local rituals, and a commemoration of local milestones or significant events.

Typically, fiesta activities are held in churches, town plazas or town squares, and homes but often spill into the streets where people of all ages and walks of life take part in parades, processions, and other colourful activities. The celebrations always involve a feast of food and, of course, a lot of music and dancing!

"Edmonton is known as Festival City and well over 40,000 people of Filipino descent call Edmonton home so it seemed a natural fit that we finally celebrate a fiesta here," said Tony Santiago, one of the event organizers. "We are excited to host this fiesta and look forward to sharing our culture and traditions with everyone!"

Edmonton Filipino Fiesta
June 11 and 12, 2016
Churchill Square, Edmonton
Free admission. Donations for the Food Bank are most welcome.

Edmonton Filipino Fiesta will feature something for the entire family:

June 11, Saturday (12 noon to 10 p.m.): mini-parade, talent showcase and street dancing in the Square
June 12, Sunday (11 a.m. to 5 p.m.): Filipino outdoor mass, martial arts workshop, talent showcase
All weekend: bouncy castle, face painting, crafts and story time

A market place with food kiosks, exhibitors and vendors will also be onsite.

Facebook: Edmonton Filipino Fiesta
Twitter: @yegpinoyfiesta
Instagram: @yegpinoyfiesta

The Santo Niño Festivals

January is marked in the Philippines with several festivals honoring the Sto. Niño or the Holy Child. The most famous is the Sinulog Festival in Cebu City, but in other parts of the country, there are: the Ati-Atihan Festival in Kalibo, Aklan; Dinagyang Festival in Iloilo City; Binanog Festival in Lambonao, Iloilo; Biniray in Romblon; Binirayan and Handugan in Antique; Pachada Senor in Cagayan de Oro City; Kahimunan in Butuan City; Zambulawan in Pagadian City;

Sinulog (Kabangkalan) Festival in Kabankalan City, Negros Occidental; the Makato Sto. Niño Festival in Poblacion Makato, Aklan; the Kahimunan Festival in Libertad, Butuan City; Batan Ati-Ati Malakara Festival in Poblacion Batan, Aklan; the Bansudani Festival in Bansud, Oriental Mindoro; the Altavas Sto. Niño Festival in Poblacion Altavas, Aklan ; the Ibajay Ati-Ati Municipal and Devotional Fiesta in Ibajay, Aklan; the Dinagsa Ati-Atihan Festival in Cadiz City, Negros Occidental; the Hinirugyaw Festival in Calinog, Iloilo; the Sto. Niño Festival in Malolos, Bulacan; and the Tondo Fiesta, in Manila.

These celebrations are usually marked by nine-day novenas or masses in honor of the Sto.

Niño, grand processions of folk, antique and new images of the Holy Child, street dancing,

beauty pageants, flea markets and fireworks. Images of the Sto. Niño are varied, reflecting an

individualʼs occupation or preference - as a sleeping child, a keeper of the world, a shepherd

boy, a student, etc. It has been observed that this image is the most dressed among all images.

The Filipinosʼ devotion to the Santo Niño reflects a love for children, who are usually a familyʼs

source of inspiration and joy. The Catholic Church in the Philippines sets the Holy Child as an example of humility, and as a celebration of the Incarnation. The Child Jesus is also a powerful

gospel statement that in becoming like little children will we be able to enter Godʼs kingdom.

The origin of this following is said to have started from the arrival of Ferdinand Magellan in

1521. He presented the image of the child Jesus, the Sto. Niño, as a baptismal gift to Hara

Amihan, wife of Rajah Humabon. Hara Amihan was later named Queen Juana, in honor of

Juana, mother of Carlos I. Along with the rulers of the island, some 800 natives were also

baptized to the Roman Catholic Church. At the moment of receiving the holy image, it was said

that Queen Juana danced with joy bearing this image of the child Jesus. With the other natives

following her example, this moment was regarded as the first Sinulog.

It is interesting to note that while some festivals find their origin from this incident in Cebu, the

Ati-atihan was the original street celebration centuries before the Sinulog and Dinagyang

festivals. It was first celebrated as a pagan festival in honor of anitos or pagan gods of the

native people before the Spanish arrived, commemorating the arrival of the Bornean datus.

There are critics who have lambasted these festivals for their show business and tourism related commercialism and lamented the loss of authentic prayer and worship.  It is, however,

undoubtedly a cultural expression and a part of Philippine history. According to National Artist

Nick Joaquin, It is such a symbol of Philippine history because it came with Magellan, became

Arts and Culture a native pagan idol, was reestablished as a Christian icon by Legazpi, and has become so Filipino that native legends annul its European origin by declaring it to have arisen in this land and to have been of this land since time immemorial. During that strange interlude when the Spaniards left after Magellanʼs death, the wondrous miracle happened: we accepted the Santo Niño as part of our land, part of our culture, part of our history.  During those 44 years when the Cross had vanished from our land, the Santo Niño kept us faithful to him. The Santo Niño, Joaquin further stresses, connected, linked and joined together our pagan and Christian culture;

he belonging to both.

Today, the image of the Santo Niño can be seen almost anywhere, and even in the most

unlikely places. But the most important place for one to express his/her devotion to the Child

Jesus is no less in the heart.

* This article was written for January 2012 issue of Pinoy Living Today.

Lifting the People’s Spirits through the Arts – Bacolod’s Masskara Festival

October marks the celebration of the Masskara Festival, which occurs from October 1-20 and celebrates Bacolod’s charter day anniversary, which is on October 19. The festival name is a morpheme of the word “mass” for crowd and the Spanish word “cara” for face. “Maskara” is also the Filipino word for masks, providing then the double meaning of “many faces” for the festival. This name was conceived by Ely Santiago – a painter, cartoonist, cultural artist and then President of the Arts Association of Bacolod.

A smiling mask is the symbol of the fiesta to reflect the happy spirit despite difficult times, and the locals’ nature of being strong willed yet warm hearted. The city is also known as the City of Smiles, so it is just fitting to hold a festival of smiles. The Masskara Festival was envisioned in 1980 when the people were suffering from an economic downturn of the sugar industry, the city’s main revenue. They were also grieving for hundreds of relatives and friends who perished in 1979 when a ship sailing from Bacolod collided with a tanker. The city’s leaders thought that a festival was an optimal way of rallying the people and lifting them from dejection.

The festival since then has evolved into a 20-day celebration with food fairs, mask-making contests, brass band competitions, musical concerts, beauty and talent pageants, a windsurfing regatta, competitions (pig catching, pole climbing, drinking, eating), trade fairs and exhibits. The climax is a mardi gras parade where revelers don elaborate masks and costumes, and dance in the streets. Everyone in the community participates – the civic associations, businesses, schools and government organizations. It has become one of the popular attractions in Negros, drawing thousands of people within and outside the country.

The Masskara Festival has also been judged the most beautiful and colorful festival among various contingents from other countries - notably in the Chinggay Festival in Singapore in 1988, the Lunar Festival of Hong Kong in 2001, in the International Tourism Festival of Shanghai in 2004 and in the Midosuji Festival Parade of Osaka, Japan, emerging as champion in the foreign category and first runner up in the local category – the first award to be given to a foreign participant in the 10-year history of that Japanese festival.

What was borne from a difficult time has propelled into a force that brings the community together, draws people from within and outside of the country, turns the economy around as one of the tourist destinations, and lifts the spirits of the people. The Masskara Festival is not based on any historical, religious or cultural premise but is definitely a creative undertaking. It is a manifestation of the people’s sentiments, their ingenuity and passion. And most importantly, it is a shining example of how one instinctively turns to art for expression, for escape, for hope and for celebration.

* this article was written for the October maiden issue of Pinoy Living, published in Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Edmonton Heritage Festival 2011

Edmonton celebrated its 36th Heritage Festival from July 30-August 1 at the Hawrelak Park.  An annual showcase and celebration of Canada’s vibrant multicultural heritage, it boasted of 63 pavilions representing more than 75 cultures.  Inititated in 1974, then Minister of Culture Horst Schmidt declared the first Monday of August an annual holiday to recognise Alberta’s ethnic diversity.  A cultural feast for the senses, it showcased food, entertainment and arts and crafts displays.

Philippine Pavilion

Philippine arts and crafts on display, for sale

the Department of Tourism display with Phil. Pavilion Overall Chairman Wilf Ladores and choreographer/director Jojo Lucila

young boys performing the Maglalatik

dancers of the Karilagan Dance Society

The Heritage Days is one of my favorite festivals in the city.  As you go from one pavilion to another and watch the cultural presentations, you glean the commonalities countries have - traits shared either by geographic proximity or colonization.  It is heartwarming to see people dressed in their national attires, proud to show off their ancestry and earnest in sharing it with others.  And in the true spirit of intercultural collaboration, I saw the Pacific Island Dance Troupe, a Filipino group presenting Philippine folk dances and Hawaiian dances, performing at the Polynesian Pavilion.

The Philippine Pavilion on the otherhand, was overseen by the Council of Edmonton Filipino Associations (CEFA) with Wilf Ladores as Overall Chairman, Josie Pallard as Arts & Craft Chair, Elmina Cochingco as Entertainment Chair and Mandy Servito as Food Chair.  Also present was the Department of Tourism, San Francisco office.  I have observed that the Philippine cultural presentations were mostly done by the Karilagan Dance Society these past years.  They have successfully presented numbers that showed youthful enthusiasm and appeal.  One just only wishes that there were some presentations by other Filipino cultural organizations and performing groups  as well, for a more inclusive event and truly representative of the Edmonton Filipino community.  Kudos, however, to the organizers, participants and volunteers for all their dedication and hard work in the Heritage Festival every year. 

* this article was written for the Pinoy Times, published in the August 2011 issue