- TFC helps celebrate Filipino culture at the 25th Pistahan Parade and Festival in Downtown San Francisco!
- It was a great weekend to celebrate culture
TFC took part in the 25th Pistahan Parade and Festival presented by the Filipino American Arts Exposition (FAAE), a nonprofit organization that contributes to the artistic and cultural pride of the Filipino American community through the promotion of Filipino American art, music, film, cuisine and dance.
Billed as the largest celebration of Filipino Americans in the U.S., the two-day event was brimming with fun, music, performances, and food, with seven pavilions for exploration, discovery and learning: Dance, Art, Innovation, Culinary, Health, Sports, and Leadership, plus the main stage where various performers showed off great skills in singing, DJing, rapping, martial arts, scratching, folk dancing, and many more.
FAAE President Al Perez explained the reason behind this year’s Pistahan theme: “Celebrating our History and Creating our Legacy” is because “we want to respect all the struggles and the challenges that the people who came before us went through, that opened doors for us now.” Perez also added that “We say ‘creating our legacy’ because we want us to be actively taking part in what’s going to happen in the next 25 years, the next 100 years.”
The first day kicked-off with a parade that started at the Civic Center and proceeded along Market Street with the end destination at the Yerba Buena Gardens. The TFC float had special Kapamilya guest performers Martin Nievera and Darren Espanto waving at the crowd on the streets. Balitang America’s Henni Espinosa and Steve Angeles also joined the TFC float that played music from the various summer campaigns of ABS-CBN over the years.
The TFC Hour, emceed by Adobo Nation Host Ginger Conejero and Barangay USA’s Gelo, was the climax to the two-day event, where Nievera and Espanto enchanted the huge crowd with the Concert King’s timeless songs, and Darren’s ballads, alternating with upbeat songs and a game round of the Katchi® Dance-off with Gelo, Conejero, and Darren’s baby sister.
With the favorable weather, performers and audiences alike enjoyed the great energy and engagement that one could feel from those on stage and on the grounds.
Perez shared that “The partnership of Pistahan with TFC and ABS-CBN has been the turning point for Pistahan. The caliber of the show became bigger, and that also forced us, as organizers, to be better prepared. TFC has put in place a certain level of organization, so we had to step up to the plate. From then on, the festival kept growing.”
Managing Director of ABS-CBN North and Latin America Jun Del Rosario says that “This partnership between TFC and the FAAE plays a big role in bringing together the Filipino American community and showcasing our unique culture in the Bay Area and perhaps even beyond Northern California. This kind of representation is a source of pride for Filipino Americans across all generations. We look forward to sustaining this wonderful partnership that continues to evolve with the times.”
