It was a bright, sunny but relaxingly cool August day, a perfect summer Saturday weekend in the heart of downtown Toronto.
August 18- at 8:00am white tents suddenly begun sprouting in the Yonge-Dundas Square, now fast becoming as famous as its iconic counterpart New York’s Times Square. Suddenly, in a matter of hours, huge crowds came streaming down filling every nook and square and cranny. Its standing room only!
Occupy Toronto? Occupy Yonge and Dundas Square? No..It’s the annual Filipinos Making Waves Festival (FMWF), whose 6th year was celebrated with a big bash at the square. Already, the event has carved a niche in this downtown core that is considered as the heart of Toronto where easily an estimated 25,000 people come and go what with the presence of Eaton Centre and other high profile
City establishments in the area.
Occupy? Yes, not in protest but in celebration of the Filipino spirit..of showing to the whole world what a Filipino is made of….his talents his accomplishments, the land and people, what he can do and will do..to be a better part of this great landscape and multi-cultural mosaic that is Canada and of North America as a whole.
Indeed last Saturday August 18, Filipinos took over the Square as they did in the past three holdings of FMWF.
News photographer James Hamilton James who covers worldwide events of this kind described the making Waves festival as one “that keeps growing and had lively crowds enjoy music artistry. “
This year’s version according to Teresa Torralba, event director along with Hotdog band legend Mon Torralba who supervises the entertainment part of the show, was geared as usual to highlighting the untapped talents of young Filipino-Canadians with emphasis on helping them discover their heritage and identity through music and other media .
More importantly, we pitched in to the tourism drive of the Philippines“ said Torralba.” For the first time this year, the Philippine Consulate general in Toronto through its newly installed Consul General Junever Mahilum West partnered with us and sent its full force staff to man the Philippine booth. “ she added.
A highlight of the event was the oath-taking administered by Consul-General West to couples Alfredo and Lilia David of Tarlac to kick start the drive for dual citizenship and on the spot registration for absentee voting and other consular services.
Recognizing the potential of a Filipino event held in a crossroad and melting pot area like the Yonge and Dundas square, the Philippine department of Tourism through Ms.Vernie Velarde Morales, director for North America Central region covering Chicago New York and other US cities, sent its New York based representative Ms. Michelle Dy to attend and distribute promo materials on the Philippines.
The festival also put up its own Philippine booth led by free lance photographer Rico De las Alas to showcase photos of seldom-seen famous spots of Palawan, Boracay, Bohol, Cebu and other Philippine scenes along with rare books, native articles from a private collection. This particular booth alongside the consulate’s elicited a lot of interest and inquiries .
We’re not only a festival event, we are into selling…selling the Philippines as a tourist destination “explained Torralba as to why this year’s event was endorsed by both the Philippine consulate and the Philippine department of Tourism.
Unofficially, Mon Torralba said this year’s theme is “its more fun in the Philippines and riding the waves “.
For the first time also, giant broadcast network ABS-CBN through its TFC (The Filipino Channel) joined the Waves bandwagon by sending its top artist popular singer Jed Madela who thrilled both the Filipino and foreign audiences with songs from the 80s. Madela’s performance interrupted some of the schedules of city tours-tourist buses that originates from the mouth of the square as riders paused in awe to watch and hear.
A tourist from Ohio, Kevin Shultz, commented “This place rocks and you Filipinos can really ratchet up your singing…great and interesting cultural show “.
Earlier in the day, The Toronto Police represented by Staff Inspector Douglas Quan led the Kawayan parade participated by some Filipino civic organizations while Filipinos Making Waves Awards were handed out to Honda executive Rafael “Paeng “ Nebres for community leadership, Alfredo “Pidoy“ Pacis for business and Gian Carlo Bobila for world-class talent in singing.
A Pinoy-style beer garden also enlivened and refreshed the crowds at the event courtesy of Mel Galeon and Flor Vendiola’s FV Foods which churned out also Pinoy-style “pulutans“ to simulate Manila-style beer houses.
Foreign tourists and mainstream crowds were treated to authentic and colourful cultural presentations such as the Fiesta Filipina dance troupe, the BIBAK Igorot dances, rock bands , martial arts demos, fashion show and the special holding of the ABS-CBN TFCkat finals which was won by Vancouver’s Russel Figueroa.