Filipino fest to be held in Fresno, celebrating unsung community’s contributions, culture

One of the most unsung communities in American society will be celebrated in grand fashion this weekend in Fresno.

Filipino-Americans have made impacts in U.S. history for centuries, but their stories are not nearly as commonly known or recognized in the U.S. as other Asian cultures.

The inaugural “Fil Fiesta 559” looks to change that.

Fil Fiesta 559 is a festival that highlights Filipino culture and the contributions made by Filipino-Americans in California and beyond. The event will be held Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Fresno City College, and admission is free.

There will be live music, cultural dancing, popular Filipino foods, and much more, including a lineup of educational workshops to help celebrate a heritage rooted all the way to the southeast Asian islands of the Philippines.

Headlining the festival is the popular a capella group Filharmonic.

“There are Filipino festivals around the country like in New York and Los Angeles, and they’re huge,” event organizer Christine Rose said. “The fact that Central California has played a huge role in Filipino-American history, it made sense to hold a Fil fest in Fresno.

“People will see that we are more than Filipino food. We are more than ube. We are more than just nurses. We are so much more. We’ve been so much more, even if our story in America has some heaviness and hasn’t always been told.”

Contributions now and then

Did you know arguably the best high school basketball player ever to come out of Fresno is part Filipino? That’d be Jalen Green, who once starred at San Joaquin Memorial High and currently plays in the NBA with the Houston Rockets.

One of the most well-respected and long-standing TV anchors in Fresno also is Filipino-American. That’s Dale Yurong, an award-winning journalist at ABC30.

There’s also another popular local anchor who’s Filipino-American: Monty Torres of KMPH Fox 26.

According to StatisticalAtlas.com, which uses U.S. Census data, 1.06% of Fresno’s population (513,807) is Filipino-American.

By comparison, minority groups like Armenian-Americans and Hmong-Americans make up 1.1% and 4.99% of Fresno’s population.

Their cultures and stories, however, have been more known and celebrated.

The stories of Filipino-Americans and their contributions to American history are only starting to reach a broader audience.

Did you know the pioneer of the Delano Grape Strike of 1965 wasn’t Cesar E. Chavez, despite his help in the movement?

It actually was Larry Itliong, a Filipino, who led the famed strike, organizing more than 2,000 Filipino farmworkers affiliated with the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee (AWOC) to boycott for better pay.

That labor dispute in the fields of Delano eventually blossomed into a civil rights movement to achieve justice for all farmworkers.

Another fun fact: Filipinos reached the continental Americas some 33 years before the Pilgrims landed.

It happened Oct. 18, 1587, when Filipinos, as hired help on a Spanish ship, touched ashore on what is known these days as the California coastal city of Morro Bay.

Yet like the modern day struggles of Filipino Americans, their stories and accomplishments of the past aren’t as widely told.

“The thing about Filipinos is we’re expert assimilators,” said Fresno resident Devon Antonio, who graduated from UC Merced with a critical race and ethnic studies degree. “The reason maybe is because we’ve been colonized so many times as a country in the Philippines — first by Spain, then the United States.

“Filipino-Americans have become really good at just getting along with others in American society. We don’t spend a lot of time fighting to get recognition for our race. We work toward getting along with everyone.”

Festival activities

What can be expected at the Fil Fiesta 559?

“A fun, family atmosphere that focuses on Filipino pride,” said Rose, who applied for the grant to receive funding from the City of Fresno through its Measure P Expanded Access to Arts and Culture Fund.

Local Filipino artists will take the stage to perform live music, showcasing the diverse talent in the community.

Members of Fresno State’s and UC Merced’s Filipino cultural clubs will also perform traditional dancers.

Attendees can shop from local vendors that are offering unique Filipino crafts, clothing and goods.

In addition, there’s a lineup of educational workshops:

• Fashion Upcycling with Ysabel Hilado, who is a fashion designer from Los Angeles who was on the show Project Runway Junior.
• Sayaw Sa Bangko (traditional Filipino dance) tutorial with UC Merced’s Pilipinx American Alliance
• Mapmaking: Connecting the Dots of Geography, Community + Self
• The History of Halo-Halo (and how to make your own!) with Chef Ryan, who is the executive chief at the upscale Fresno restaurant O-iza Modern Japanese
• Trailblazing in TV Media with Dale Yurong, who will share his story of how his family gained U.S. citizenship coming from the Philippines and his journey of being a journalist of brown skin.
• Christmas in October: Make + Take your own Parol, which is a Filipino ornamental lantern that’s traditionally constructed using bamboo and Japanese paper

“It’s an event about Filipinos, but really, it’s an event for everyone,” Rose said. “As we share, the more other people get to know about our culture and our history.”

Both Rose and Antonio believe the foundation of Filipino American culture is a focus on family and togetherness, laughter and love, and hard work and service for others.

“We sometimes even can be too overgiving,” Antonio said. “We see friendships in all that we do. And we’re open to all friendships.”

Famous Filipinos, recognition

Filipino-Americans have started to receive more recognition in recent years, especially as some individuals have reached star status and shared their own stories.

Like singers Bruno Mars and Hailee Steinfeld, actress Vanessa Hudgens and guitarist Kirk Hammett of Metallica.

There’s also Filipino native and boxing legend Manny Pacquiao, who has served as a source of pride for many “Fil-Ams.”

“The beautiful part of being Filipino is, whether you’re half or a quarter or full Filipino, at the end of the day, you’re Filipino,” Antonio said. “And Filipinos support and cheer for other Filipinos.”

At a grander scale, U.S. Congress in 2009 declared October to be Filipino-American history month (Filipino American History Month actually was established in 1992).

Locally, Fresno Mayor Mayor Jerry Dyer on Wednesday proclaimed the City of Fresno’s official recognition of October being Filipino American History month.

“I think it’s just taken a long time for Filipinos to be recognized,” Rose said. “But we’re starting to get our flowers and that’s exciting.”

This story was originally published October 25, 2024 at 8:37 AM.