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Fun, relaxing Festival of Philippine Arts
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2528 Reads
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 Last couple of years, I've attended the Festival of Philippine Arts and Culture, or FPAC as its mostly known, every September and I've found it to be one of the more laid-back cultural events in Los Angeles. Of course, that's usually because I always go on Sundays (that is the busier day) and a little bit late, but whatever.
Sunday's FPAC was no exception - I got there, had to wait in a bit of a line to pay the $3 donation/admission fee, wait in another line to get some food (I was HUNGRY), then after that, it was all good.....(by the way, "Malikot" on the T-shirt means fidgety, naughty, or troublesome. I freakin love this word, mostly because its fun to say) ...
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Mainly we - my husband, my friend Lilly and I - sat around and listened to the music, which is generally the biggest draw anyway. We listened to the StacksVinyl deejay contest, browsed some of the vendors selling clothes, hats, barongs (similar in style to a Mexican Guayabera, but barongs are mostly for very special occasions, akin to an American tuxedo), bags, tribal-print sarongs, DirecTV, Forest Lawn plots and Volvo raffle tickets. Really.
I got a kick out of observing all the different versions of Filipino-Americans - biker gang-style Filipinos, with tribal tattoos up and down their arms and leather vests with some Baybayin (the indigenous Tagalog alphabet) on it and other words I couldn't make out. Rasta Filipinos, including dreads and the knitted mushroom-style hats that I don't know the name for. Biker Boyz-style Filipinos, with their slick, multi-colored biker jackets (I didn't see their helmets, though). Mixed Filipinos, yuppie Filipinos, rocker Filipinos and everyone else - which would include me - in between.
The main stage acts were pretty good - I actually got to hear Invid, an all-Filipino rock band, for the first time and they were not bad. They managed to short out the sound system, heh. I also stuck around for the Soundproof Crew, featuring a guy who called himself Ethnic Descent, who was really good. They played real laid-back, original reggae-style and Jawaiian songs. We left when the Native Guns, a duo of rappers named Kiwi and Bambu came on - their first song was political. If my input is worth anything, please stick to entertaining, thanks.
I had heard a few city dignitaries showed up, but God knows who that could have been. The buzz around the festival was mostly the excitement that the Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao had won his fight the previous night at the Staples Center. They kept replaying the fight at the Fili-Islander booth, drawing crowds to watch the 17-inch flat-screen TV there.
Next year if you go, make sure to 1) have a fatter memory stick in your camera, 2) go there Saturday or early Sunday to avoid the crowds, 3) have plenty of cash for souvenirs like T-shirts and hats and the food/desserts/drinks (although FPAC is not as bad as other festivals, where a can of Pepsi has been known to be $3) and 4) check out the Culinary Corner. I missed all the demonstrations and heard they were really dope. It would be great, too, if there had been more trash bins - all the vendors were of course serving food in foam, take-out boxes, which piled up quick and overflowed the trash cans by the end of the day.
For a few of my pictures, check out my Flickr stream.
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| Posted by: MrsPowells on Monday, September 12, 2005 - 11:25 AM
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