Celebrating Edmonton’s Filipino community, culture with two-day outdoor festival
Posted June 18, 2022 4:13 pm.
A special celebration of Edmonton’s Filipino community – its food, music, art and more – took centre stage at Borden Park on Saturday.
The fifth edition of the Edmonton Filipino Fiesta returned after a two-year absence due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The festival offered residents a chance to get a taste of Filipino culture, which has become a huge part of Edmonton.
Organizer Tony Santiago estimates 70,000 people who live in Edmonton have Filipino heritage, with many working in health care, food services and the trades.
He hopes this event, which continues Sunday, helps shine a spotlight on their contributions to the city.
“We’re very much present in every field, it’s just that we’re not too assertive and we don’t really assert ourselves too much so people don’t know we exist,” said Santiago. “But we’re trying to change that.
“We’re a big community. We have a big contribution to Edmonton, Alberta and Canada. And we’re here to be friends with everybody.”
