Filipino Fiesta, parade brighten Waikīkī today
Visit a keiki village to play Filipino children's games. Watch a parade with colorful street dancers. Listen to the Banda Kawayan of the Fili-pino Community Center — an all-bamboo band. It's all at the 18th annual Filipino Fiesta and Parade, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. today at Kapi'olani Park.
Thousands are once again expected to attend the fiesta and parade, this year themed "Lakbay Kultura (A Cultural Journey)," said event chairman Serafin "Jun" Colmenares.
The fiesta is an opportunity for others to experience Filipino culture "at its best," Colmenares said. "Join the journey and rediscover or learn the diversity that makes up the Filipino psyche."
Billed as the largest Filipino event in the state, the Filipino Fiesta and Parade is made up of three parts:
• The event kicks off with a parade, starting at 9 a.m. at Fort DeRussy, winding along Kalākaua Avenue and ending at Kapi'olani Park. It will include floats representing areas such as central Luzon, Tagalog, Bicol, Visayas and Mindanao.
• Following the parade will be the Flores de Mayo, a May festival showcasing Filipina beauties in native attire and carrying flower-designed parasols, strolling with escorts from Fort DeRussy to Kapi'olani Park.
• The Filipino Fiesta, which starts at about 10 a.m. in the park, will feature a regional village exhibiting cultural information and artifacts from the various regions of the Philippines. There will be entertainment, food and health booths, a raffle for 10 roundtrip tickets to the Philippines, and more. For more information, call the Filipino Community Center at 680-0451.