Show Your Community Support, Attend the Flores de Mayo and Filipino Fiesta, Saturday May 4
Longevity and success could best describe the annual Flores de Mayo & Filipino Fiesta. This signature event put together by Hawaii’s Filipino community rolls into its 32nd year and organizers expect to draw thousands of attendees again.
When you think about how long ago three decades is, that means the Filipino Fiesta was launched by the Baby Boomer generation. Some of them involved from the Fiesta’s start sit on the Board of Directors of the Filipino Community Center and remain active.
FilCom Center’s Roland Casamina (president emeritus), Eddie Flores, Jr (chair emeritus) and Edmund Aczon (BOD, chair) are a few who’ve helped to establish both the Filipino Fiesta and the FilCom Center. The Filipino Jaycees of Honolulu that has been involved in promotions since the beginning is no longer Generation X, but millennials and perhaps early Gen Z. Collectively, this makes three to four generational groups of Hawaii Filipinos involved in putting together the Filipino Fiesta.
Children who accompanied their parents at Kapiolani Park in Waikiki (original location) enjoying the sights and sounds of the Fiesta in their youth are now up-and-coming community leaders.
What’s encouraging through these three decades which still holds true today is the Fiesta maintains its authenticity as a “cultural” event that promotes our Philippines-inherited culture and not just Filipino Americans doing American things.
For example, this year’s organizers will introduce one event called the Santacruzan procession, a pageant-procession held in the Philippines on the last day of the Flores de Mayo that honors the finding of the True Cross by Helena of Constantinople. It’s certain most second, third generation Filipino-Americans have never heard of this procession or seen it live. This event alone is culturally eye-opening. The new Filipiniana Market at the Fiesta — where attendees can buy brand new or gently used traditional Filipino clothing – is a great idea.
Since the Filipino Fiesta has moved its location to the FilCom Center, organizers have come up with interesting event concepts to keep the Fiesta fresh like the “Best of the Da Best Adobo Cook Off” and Sari-Sari store concept. This year’s introduction of a Balut eating contest might be cringeworthy to some audiences, but it’s certainly something exciting and will have people talking about it. New events will keep the community coming back. The kiss of death to any annual event is when people start to think, “I’ve seen that, done that, moving along.”
What’s also new is the additional option for residents to use the Skyline to the Pouhala Station and walk to the Fiesta. Taking the Skyline, especially for those who haven’t ridden it yet, adds a sense of adventure like going on a mini excursion for those that never make their way into Waipahu.
Pivotal time, generational shift
As the torch is being passed on from one generation to the next, it’s a pivotal time for the Flores de Mayo & Filipino Fiesta to keep growing and attract new attendees, particularly among the youth. It’s likely that some of the events of the Fiesta largely supported by Filipino clubs will not be as prominent a feature into the future. Why? Because Hawaii Filipino clubs whose membership are solely based on PI township or regional origin from the Motherland are not being perpetuated with the same passion among Gen X and millennials.
Their parents perhaps found camaraderie and identification in joining township-Philippines clubs. But most Filipino Americans not of the immigrant Baby Boom generation have a broader ethnic identification beyond PI-township-origins or regional distinctions of Ilocano, Visayan or Tagalog and so on. Rather the ethnic identification today’s Filipino Americans have are mostly just Filipino AND American.
But for a flagship event as the Fiesta that has a mission to educate younger Filipinos and non-Filipinos of the wide diversity of Philippines culture, for this event, the cultural booths that promote various regions from the Cordilleras to Tagalog, and Visayas to Mindoro, should always be a part of the Fiesta’s feature well into the future.
Outside of the Fiesta, whether the township and regional Philippines club that were very important in the Baby Boom generation can be sustained in Hawaii is a big question mark. One major positive is that these clubs over the decades served to invigorate our immigrant community and provided fun social interactions. Most importantly, they also served to unify Hawaii’s Filipinos through their various umbrella organizations.
Without these PI township clubs it’s another big question mark how united our mostly Filipino American community in Hawaii will be, ten, twenty years ahead, and beyond.
Support the Fiesta and FilCom Center
Congratulations to the organizers of the 2024 Flores de Mayo & Filipino Fiesta. The slated mixed events of old and new, lively entertainment lineup and ono food options should keep our community happy and wanting to come back for more next year.
Bring the whole family, meet a group of friends, or trek to Waipahu alone to the Flores de Mayo & Filipino Fiesta. Remember that the Fiesta’s success also helps our FilCom Center.
Mabuhay to our Flores de Mayo & Filipino Fiesta and Filipino Community Center.
