Pistahan Parade and Festival in S.F. celebrates Filipino culture

SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX) — The twenty ninth annual Pistahan Parade and Pageant in San Francisco kicked off Saturday after a pandemic hiatus and a well-liked new film that pulls consideration to Filipino tradition.

“I really feel actually pleased with who I’m and the place I got here from,” mentioned Jeana Rabanal, a vendor who began Mie Makes throughout the pandemic. “Rising up, there wasn’t plenty of Filipino merchandise that I needed.”

Her model of stickers, shirts and different gadgets showcase cultural pleasure.

Earlier this month the movie “Easter Sunday” starring comic Jo Koy and highlighting his character’s Filipino household in Daly Metropolis opened in theaters across the nation. Neighborhood members say this film and different tasks within the media have helped to raise normal consciousness of Filipino-American life.

“Filipino historical past isn’t taught in our textbooks. There’s hardly any illustration of minorities in music and movie, in TV,” mentioned Al Perez, president of the Filipino American Arts Exposition which organizes the competition and parade. “Our neighborhood can come to uplift one another and say, ‘we’re OK, we’re right here, and we matter.’”

Pistahan means “fiesta” and the occasion creates a vibrant, joyful environment over two days with completely different pavilions introducing guests to Filipino meals, artwork, dance, and trade. The occasion started 29 years in the past to acknowledge 4,000 Filipino households displaced by the development of Yerba Buena Gardens and Moscone Conference Middle, which are actually a part of  the Filipino Cultural Heritage District.

The parade started Saturday at Civic Middle and continued alongside Market Avenue and continued to Yerba Buena Gardens.

“I am glad to see it as a result of, after I was youthful, we did not see as a lot,” mentioned Ian Bautista, a South San Francisco resident on the competition.

The pandemic did assist the occasion attain a bigger viewers by going digital and connecting with households throughout the U.S. and in additional than 30 international locations world wide. Youthful guests mentioned they had been glad to study their heritage whereas attending the competition for the primary time.

“If we see extra Filipino tradition, we are able to really feel extra linked to our neighborhood and I am proud to be right here,” mentioned Kenneth Ayson, one other South San Francisco resident.

Organizers are already spreading the phrase for subsequent yr, which will probably be their thirtieth anniversary. 

“I am seeing extra illustration, particularly Filipino illustration, the final couple of years. It is good to be a part of that,” Rabanal mentioned.

The competition continues Sunday from 11 a.m. to five p.m. at Yerba Buena Gardens.