San Diego, June 8, 2010.  This weekend will be the 112^th anniversary of the Philippines Independence from Spanish Colonial rule and with that many San Diego Filipino Organizations and partners of the Filipino American Arts & Culture Festival (FilAmFest) have put together events in and around San Diego to celebrate it with you.

The Emilio Aguinaldo Foundation will be hosting the Philippine Independence Day Festival at the Mira Mesa Community Park on Saturday June12 from 10am-6pm.  Celebrate Filipino culture, food, arts, crafts, and entertainment. Find out more at www.aguinaldofoundation.com

The following Sunday, June 13, the Philippine American Youth Organization (PAYO), Kuya Ate Mentorship Program (KAMP), and Filipino American Educators Association (FILAMEDA) will be hosting their 2nd Annual All High School Filipino/a Graduation (HS FilGrad). The celebration will be at 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., at the historical Centro Cultural de la Raza in Balboa Park.  For more info on the graduation go to www.hsfilgradSD.webs.com

The FilAmFest Organizing Committee in accordance to our theme of “Celebrating the Bayanihan Spirit” will be out and about to support these events and organizations as the weekend rolls around.  For additional events around San Diego visit our FilAmFest sponsor www.webkalusugan.org.

Just in time for summer and as the schools begin to let out the FilAmFest Organizing Committee recognizes that many of our students will be moving on to higher education and we offer our support to them by offering the FilAmFest scholarship to students that not only work hard in school but also share with us their Bayanihan spirit by helping out in the community as well.  The scholarship application and information will be available on our website, www.filamfest.com or students interested in applying can email the OC directly at filamfest@gmail.com.

The Filipino American Arts & Culture Festival will be Saturday October 2, 2010.

Questions or if you are interested in getting involved please contact Virgil Yalong

filamfest@gmail.com. www.filamfest.com

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Imagine for a minute a job where you are asked to perform immeasurable tasks with limited resources on hours that go well into the night and stretch into the early morning, going day to day not knowing how much you have progressed, if at all. Then finally after months have passed and your exerted efforts of nearly half your life are seen and experienced by the public for exactly eight hours. Eight hours that can go by as quickly as a second and yet somehow last forever. With the time marked by agonizing, stressful moments of disaster after disaster which you must fix with a Macguyver-type flair and a mixture of brilliant tact and circus pomp so that other people can enjoy your exhausted eight hours of festivities and never really know the truly miraculous wonders you pulled out of your hat that day. Then finally you find sleep and reacquaint yourself with your bed after months of not knowing each other, so that you can wake up the next day and start the rotation all over again. And the funny thing is, when you wake up, you smile because you love, LOVE what you do.

This is the life of a festival builder, a volunteer with a heart for its people, a community leader, faceless and unrecognized, but as essential to the system of government as water is to life. I can’t remember the first time I volunteered for anything or even what the event was for. Volunteering and community service was something that was ingrained in me from an early age. Now at a round about age I find myself still volunteering and still serving the community that I grew up in. This time I am serving as a festival builder for the Filipino American Arts and Culture Festival in San Diego also known as the FilAmFest, a festival that we hold literally down the street from where I grew up. I joined the festival along with a group of childhood friends who also share the same training and principles of community service. With our experience working in the community we were ready to do work, expecting to help set up and move tables and chairs around. We came in on the third week of August and the festival was to be held on the first Saturday of October. Seven weeks until the festival and our first meeting with the organizing committee had six people, the three chief organizers and us. A number of volunteers had been stretched too thin and dropped out. During that sit-down we were told exactly where the festival stood at that point and where they wanted to take it from there and how our involvement as volunteers can help. After that meeting, in confidence with my two friends we sat down again to contemplate whether or not we would take on the over-bearing task of what seemed to be an almost sinking ship. We knew at the time that taking up the challenge we would be in over our heads but surviving by the skin of our teeth was where we thrived and we relished the chance to do the impossible and improbable. This was our calling and we accepted the task and got to work the next day.

It was the FilAmFest’s third year of existence and our first time being on the staff. We were assigned to coordinate the entertainment program on two stages. Beyond that we would help around with marketing and some fund development. It was pertinent for us to bring in all the resources we have collected in our young lives and for the first time we felt a collective strength of friends, family, and co-workers rally with us to help build the festival. We saw the growth of our little neighborhood festival rise from hundreds in attendance to 8,000 strong. Naturally after that we stayed on for the next year’s festival committee again under the entertainment banner with some extra duties attached. That year being our second we were able to work out some kinks and restart from a new angle based on the year before. We kept most of our staff and began rebuilding the festival motivated by the success of the past year. With a new and longer time frame our little group of three volunteers each spearheaded an aspect of the festival to outreach to the community. We had special surprise performances around San Diego by our headlining performer international singer/songwriter Kitchie Nadal to help market the festival which also included a special guest appearance at my high school alma mater Morse High. In that year our 8,000 strong in attendance had attracted a tremendous count of over 12,000.

By this time the FilAmFest’s rapid growth had put the entire Organizing Committee on the community radar. It was made known that we were a group of college age community volunteers and young professionals working with a group of senior community leaders to build what is now the largest Filipino Arts and Culture Festival in San Diego. Despite the well-known problematic and self-defeating quarrelling within the Filipino community that pits provinces, genders, social agendas, and ages against each other, somehow this motley crew that was thrown together and representing all the way from Illinois to Louisiana and back to California found a common ground of which the FilAmFest rests its foundation. I have come to know these characters over the years, worked with them, partied with them, and worked with them some more. Not a day goes by that one of us will mention to another how much we would rather be doing this than our regular day jobs, which consists of artists, social workers, and teachers. By chance my little group of three friends that walked into that first meeting three years ago expecting to help set up chairs were embedded into the Organizing Committee each under our own niche to build the festival again in its fifth year. This work has afforded me the chance to see and meet new people everyday and be introduced to some interesting personal philosophies on life and the spirit of the Filipino American community.

Sometimes I am asked why I volunteer and give so much to the community. I wondered that myself and asked the same question to other community leaders and festival builders that I know including our own Festival Director for FilAmFest 2008 Lily Ann Villaraza, the Marketing Coordinator for the Festival of Philippine Arts & Culture (FPAC in San Pedro,CA) Kat Carrido, and Hip Hop MC Geologic of the Blue Scholars (based in Seattle, WA). Answering my questions through email each of these individuals summed up their answer in the same tone despite being from separate corners of the U.S. Lily Ann Villaraza wrote, “I do it because I was inspired by others who shared with me their passion for others outside of their family [and] for the community and I saw how it fulfilled them. I see family and community as one.” Kat Carrido shared the same sentiment saying, “It’s a ‘soul purpose,’ if you will. I have a responsibility to my ancestors and all they have done to get me (and our people) this far; and for the youth, the future.” Finally Geologic summed up the value of our community like this, “I am nothing without my community. Every individual, whether they acknowledge it or not, is part of a community and plays a role in whether things change or stay the same. I have a guarded optimism. I’m a dreamer but also a realist. Even when things look bleak, repression breeds resistance and I’m a firm believer of the collective power of the people!” So why do we volunteer? We volunteer because it’s a part of us. It’s a deepened relationship with the community that sparks a want to give our best. It is our contribution, whether minute or vast, to building up from where we once were, to change, to make that difference.

In passing I read a note from Geologic who heard his friend say how it’s a great time to be Filipino right now. And in turn he answered back, “Nah man its ALWAYS been a great time to be Filipino. We just needed some dancers and a boxer to legitimize it.” It was in this short conversation that I found the theme for this year’s FilAmFest and presented it to the rest of the staff. Honoring the Past, Building the Future. It is the idea that we were meant to take up the banner and carry it with us until the next generation was ready to take it further. In recent events we have seen many Filipinos accomplish a lot and as a whole we have experience a renewed vigor and love for our culture. In 1986 the nation of the Philippines felt it in the power of the people. Years before, the Katipunan would inspire the generations to come. And now the passing of Cory Aquino, an icon in Philippine history reminds me of why we are the land of the morning. The sun is setting on a great generation of Filipinos and will rise on a new generation in the morning. Yes it is a great time to be Filipino and just as much it is our time to be great.

note: This article was written in response to the Festival activities of 2009 and after the Manny Pacquiao fight over Miguel Cotto and the crowning of yet another west coast dance team on MTV’s America’s Best Dance Crew.

About the author: Virgil Yalong is a three year volunteer with the FilAmFest. He began volunteering with helping to coordinate the Entertainment and currently is the Marketing Director and Lead Designer for FilAmFest 2009. He also helps host the Bayanihan stage and goes by the stage name Big Virg. Virgil can be reached at vyalong@hotmail[dot]com.

OCTOBER 3RD IS FILAMFEST!

The FilAmFest or Filipino American Arts and Culture Festival will be held on October 3, 2009 on Paradise Valley rd between Woodman St and Gilmartin Ave. from 11:00am to 6:00pm. The street address to the area is 6610 Potomac St. San Diego, CA 92139. Street parking is available however shuttles will be provided by Neighborhood House Association to transport attendees from area schools Bell junior high and Morse high.
The FilAmFest is a street festival originally initiated by the office of Councilman Tony Young of District 4 and now organized and planned by community leaders and volunteers. Attendees to the Festival can shop for various Filipino products and clothing inspired by Filipino culture. Along with the commercial merchandise booths the Festival will have area programs devoted to the youth, educational information, and health information. Highlighting the festivals arts and culture will be the art program area which will feature local artists work and live artwork being done. The cultural program area will be hosted by local Filipino organizations providing a unique insight on Filipino culture. A staple to the FilAmFest will be the entertainment lineup which is scheduled on two stages. Entertainment includes many local singers and bands including R&B singer Ashley Robles. The full lineup and schedule will be announced at the FilAmFest preview night on October 1st, which will be held at Kalusugan Community Services 1419 E. 8th st. National City, CA 91950. For more information please visit our website www.filamfest.com.
The FilAmFest chief organizers are available for questions and interviews at the Kalusugan Community Services
1419 E. 8th st National City, CA 91950
Tel. 619.477-3392 Fax. 619.477-3391

FilAmFest festival grounds is on Paradise Valley Rd between Gilmartin Ave and Woodman st. Paradise Hills Park 6610 Potomac Dr. San Diego, CA 92139

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Contact: Virgil Yalong Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2009
Kalusugan Community Services
619.477.3392
vyalong@hotmail.com
filamfest@gmail.com
www.filamfest.com

FilAmFest to host a Special Festival Preview Thursday Oct 1.

On Thursday Oct. 1, 2009 at the Kalusugan Community Services Building (1419 E. 8th st, National City, CA 91950) the FilAmFest Organizing Committee will be having a special Festival Preview for media, VIPs, sponsors, and guests. The FilAmFest Preview night will begin at 7:00pm. Parking is limited so please arrive early.
The FilAmFest Preview will be offering the latest and exciting news involving the Filipino-American Arts & Culture Festival. Several organizations and vendors will be present to showcase their business and merchandise. Members of the Organizing Committee and the Festival builders will be on-hand to lead the Preview Night’s agenda. We will begin with the Committee discussing the latest developments in community building and organizational partnerships and how these relate to the events planned leading up to this year’s FilAmFest and the creation of our theme, “Honoring the Past, Building the Future”. Next we will be recognizing the sponsors and guests that helped us to build the Festival this year by presenting the official FilAmFest souvenir shirt and the staff and volunteer uniforms of the day. After that the Programming department will be highlighting a few of the Arts and Culture areas that the festival goers do not want to miss. FilAmFest performer Ashley Robles will be unveiling the entertainment lineup for the Kalayaan and Bayanihan stage. And the Final presentation will be a special awards recognition to our first ever Scholarship winners and honorable students.
After the FilAmFest Preview, members of the Organizing committee and festival builders will be available for interviews and questions in a discussion panel or during the post social hour where guests can enjoy a special cake made by one of our own Festival Builders, Staff secretary, Alyssa Guzman.

For more information on the FilAmFest please go to www.filamfest.com
The FilAmFest Chief Organizers will be available for questions at the Kalusugan Office 619.477-3392 or email them directly at filamfest@gmail.com subject: FAFmedia.

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Contact: Virgil Yalong Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2009
Kalusugan Community Services
619.477.3392
vyalong@hotmail.com
filamfest@gmail.com
www.filamfest.com

COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS AND STUDENTS ARE ENCOURAGED TO VOLUNTEER WITH THE FILAMFEST

We are looking for volunteers to join us in brightening up our community. This Saturday (Sept 5, 2009), the FilAmFest will be hosting a community clean up at Potomac Park in Paradise Hills (the site of the FilAmFest). We will meet on the park grounds at 8:30am and will be done by 1pm. A light lunch will be provided.
Make sure to bring water, sun protection, and comfortable clothes. Some extra things to bring include work gloves and a form to record volunteer hours if you need to get your community service hours for your school or organization.
Afterwards students, organizations, and organizational leaders will have a chance to speak with the FilAmFest organizing committee and discuss what volunteer duties they would like to consider for the Festival to be held on October 3, 2009. Anyone interested in volunteering that cannot stay can attend the Volunteers Meeting on Sept. 28 or Sept 29 at 6:00pm on both days at the Kalusugan Community Services office located at 1419 E 8th st National City, CA 91950. Information or questions regarding volunteering for the FilAmFest can be sent to filamvolunteer@gmail.com. On Sept 22 and 23 the Organizing Committee will be having a training and informative meeting for those who can act as a Lead and coordinate a team of volunteers to perform duties around the festival. This meeting is open to any organizations, organizational leaders, or other members of the community seeking a more responsible role and to get involved with the FilAmFest future endeavors and activities.
The FilAmFest or Filipino American Arts and Culture Festival will be held on October 3, 2009 on Paradise Valley rd between Woodman St and Gilmartin Ave. Parking is limited however shuttles will be provided by Neighborhood House Association to transport attendees from area schools. More information will be provided on our website www.filamfest.com.

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Contact:
Virgil Yalong
Marketing Director FilAmFest
vyalong@hotmail.com
(619) 512-2448

www.filamfest.com

FilAmFest Gearing Up for the End of Summer and the Start of a New School Year by Offering $500 scholarship for students seeking higher education

The Filipino American Arts and Culture Festival will be hosting an End of Summer Bash at Canes Bar and Grill on Thursday September 3, 2009. Being billed as “Flash in Fashion” the event will showcase local artists artwork and Fall clothing lines from various clothing companies and local boutiques. Musical performances by Marlon Dane, Lady Gemini, One Son, Vox Merger, and a surprise special guest performance. The Doors open at 8:00 pm. Pre-sale tickets are available at Kalusugan Community Services for $8. Door price will be $10. Tickets can also be purchased online at www.filamfest.com. Patrons bringing a new, unopened school supply such as a backpack, folder, pens, markers, pencils, etc. on the day of the event can get in at the pre-sale price of $8. School supplies will go to the Filipino American Educators Association of San Diego. This event is for ages 21 and up.

As the Summer winds down the city of San Diego and the FilAmFest is looking towards the community to help in as many ways as they can. On Saturday September 5, 2009 the FilAmFest invites the community to help Clean up the Park at Potomac Park on Paradise Valley Road. Please arrive at the Park next to the Skate Park with gloves and proper clothing at 8am. Lunch will be provided. This is a great opportunity for students and clubs and organizations to receive community service hours and meet the organizers of the FilAmFest and get involved with the FilAmFest volunteer program early. More information provided on the FilAmFest website. Direct any questions to filamfest@gmail.com with the subject “Community Clean Up Volunteer”.

If you are unable to participate in the Community Clean up and still want to help out. The FilAmFest has opened a new program for individuals or groups and organizations to make tax deductible donations. The program, Friends of FilAmFest or Aming Mga Kaibigan, accepts donations from $5.00 to $1000.00 or more. Interested parties or individuals can make an online donation through our website, www.filamfest.com or contact the staff directly through the Kalusugan Community Services office at 619-477-3392. Donations can be made anonymously.

The FilAmFest is offering $500.00 scholarships to students that are enrolled or will be enrolling in a university, college, or trade/vocational school for the Fall Semester 2009. Students must fill out and submit an application and provide transcripts, letters of recommendation. Winners will be notified and recognized at the FilAmFest on October 3, 2009. In addition to the scholarship the FilAmFest will be having its second annual Best at the Fest dance competition. Details included on the website.

The FilAmFest will be on Saturday October 3, 2009 from 11:00am to 6:00pm. This event is open to the public and held on Paradise Valley road between Gilmartin Ave and Woodman street. Patrons can enjoy a day of cultural festivities as well as shop various vendors selling merchandise from clothing to novelty regional items. Also come and obtain information regarding health, education, and other local issues. The FilAmFest is celebrating its 5th year and attracts over 10,000 people. All are invited to attend the FilAmFest and the FilAmFest pre-events. If you would like to volunteer or be part of the FilAmFest, more information and applications for vendors, sponsors, advertisements, performers, and volunteers are provided on our website at www.filamfest.com. All application deadlines have been extended beyond the original dates.

This Saturday (July 11, 2009), we will be doing a community clean up at Potomac Park in Paradise Hills (it’s where FilAmFest is held). We will be cleaning from 8:30am till 1pm, with lunch provided afterwards.
We are looking for volunteers to join us in brightening up our community. Make sure to bring water, sun protection, comfortable clothes (you will most likely get dirty), and a “ready to work” attitude. Some extra things to bring include work gloves and student volunteer hours if you need to get your community service hours for your school. Questions or if you want to help at future events, including the actual festival email Danielle Iwatsu at FilAmVolunteer@gmail.com. We hope to see you all there!
The FilAmFest will have a second Community Clean up on Saturday August 15, 2009. More events leading up to the Festival are being planned. Learn more at www.filamfest.com

The FilAmFest is looking for your support. In the past years the FIlAmFest organizing committee has dedicated themselves to delivering an Arts and Cultural Festival experience that the Filipino American Community and the Community of san Diego can be proud of and embrace with all their spirit. Now we are looking for the support of our community to continue to bring out the best we can offer. Private, group, and individual donations are being accepted for any monetary amount through the Friends of FilAmFest/ Aming Mga Kaibigan program. Donations are tax deductible and can be recognized on our website and in the FilAmFest Program. Click on the “Donate Now” button on our website at www.filamfest.com or you can contact any FilAmFest Committee member to make your donation. Please help us reach our goal of $1,500.00 for the month of July.

Currently the FilAmFest website is under construction and getting ready to be updated along with this blog as events and updates come up.  This blog and the website will be the best place to find out where you can get free stuff from the FilAmFest crew, where you can find more information on who will be coming to FilAmFest, and many more.  So don’t forget to bookmark us and get ready for another exciting year with the FilAmFest!