Third Time’s a Charm: Edmonton Filipino Fiesta Finds its Stride

Thousands joined in the celebrations of Filipino arts and culture, community and cuisine at last month’s Edmonton Filipino Fiesta. The Fiesta, now in its third year, took place on June 23 and 24 at Borden Park.

The event officially kicked off with a colourful and lively parade that showcased dozens of associations, arts organizations and businesses. Fiesta-goers, young and young at heart, enjoyed myriad stage entertainment – both cultural and contemporary – presented by the Philippine Arts Council. Meanwhile the family area, presented by the University of the Philippines Alumni Association of Edmonton, bustled with activities such as face painting, bouncy castles and a chance to take pictures dressed in traditional Filipino garb. The family area also featured the ever endearing “Aling Iska” selling favourite snacks at her mini sari-sari store!

This year, the Fiesta partnered with Mayfield Toyota’s Filipino Drives division as a naming sponsor thus the event was presented as the Filipino Drives Edmonton Filipino Fiesta 2018. The dealership gave away many prizes including a chance to win a trip to the Philippines. As always, there was a very strong showing of support from over 30 different other Pinoy businesses and each had an opportunity to promote their goods and services throughout the weekend.

One of the biggest draws to any cultural event is the food! Ten food vendors joined this year (doubled from 2017) to serve up Pinoy favourites. Visitors enjoyed everything from savouries like sizzling bbq pork skewers, ukoy, fish balls, sisig and fried chicken to sweet sensations like halo-halo, mais con yelo, pan de coco and more! With food blog culture at its peak popularity and Asian street food finally getting the recognition it has long deserved, the Fiesta’s food line-up was prepared to dish it out. Talk about an #instafood lover’s dream!

Approximately 10,000 people came and enjoyed the Fiesta – a healthy attendance that is comparable to the event’s first two years. Festival organizers believe that the numbers will only increase as support becomes even stronger from all levels of government, private sponsors and most importantly, the community of Filipinos and non-Filipinos alike.

Edmonton certainly has the community infrastructure to grow Fiesta. The city now boasts a Filipino population topping 64,000 and Tagalog continues to be its most common immigrant language. As well, Premier Rachel Notley recently declared June as Philippine Heritage Month in Alberta, with similar proclamations made by the City of Edmonton and nearby Forth Saskatchewan.

The Edmonton Filipino Fiesta has what it takes to be counted among the staple summertime events in Festival City. It can become a large tourism draw not unlike Cariwest and LatinFest and it seems that many things are aligning in its favour. These factors, along with the most Filipino of virtues – hard work, patience and humbleness – can turn this once lofty goal into a reality sooner than imagined.