WOODSIDE, NY — Filipino artists and performers will be featured during the 2nd Annual Bayanihan Festival hosted by The Philippine Forum, an organization that seeks to introduce Filipino culture to the larger Queens community. The festival will be held on Sunday, September 19, from 10:00 A.M. to 6:00 P.M. at the Edward Hart Playground located at 69th Street and 37th Avenue, Woodside, NY. Admission is free.
The Bayanihan Cultural Festival will also include live performances by rising and professional Filipino artists. The stage will showcase indigenous and folk dances, hip-hop and spoken word pieces, comedic and magic acts, and musical performances. In honor of the centennial celebration of International Women’s Day, performances will give tribute to women, in particular to Filipinas who contributed throughout the history of Philippine Independence.
Indigenous and folk dance will be performed by B.I.B.A.K., an acronym of provinces from the northern region of Luzon — Benguet, Ifugao, Bontoc, Apayao, and Kalinga — in the Philippines. Kinding Sindaw will be performing Muslim indigenous dances.
Punk-rock music will be performed by KADENA, an all-Filipino political street punk rock band based in Brooklyn, NY involved in various socio-political issues and causes. Grassroots collectives working towards social justice are also providing cultural performances. They include Filipinas for Rights and Empowerment (FiRE), a Filipino women’s mass organization that support and create women’s initiatives by fostering leadership, building alliances and mobilizing immigrant and native-born community through critical education and learning; and AnakBayan (Children of the Nation), a comprehensive Filipino youth organization that aims to build unity among all sectors of Filipino youth– immigrant, US-born/raised, student, working, LGBT, women, artists, etc– for the advancement of rights, welfare, and social justice. The women of KABALIKAT Domestic Workers Support Network, a community program of Philippine Forum, will also be showcasing their own cultural talent.
Filipino Broadway artists are joining the cultural array with Ester Barros and Tess Paras, performing for their fellow Filipinos in New York. Ester has played Kim and Gigi in Miss Saigon and Maria Clara in Noli me Tangere, the Musical. Tess has appeared in Miss Saigon, as well, and has recently appeared in episodes of The Good Wife, Law and Order and Gossip Girl. She will be appearing on the USA Network series White Collar this fall.
More local artists are also gracing the stage of the Bayanihan Cultural Festival, including musicians and song-writers, Jay Legaspi and John Flor Sisante; comedian, Kevin Nadal; magician, Paul Riego; and hip-hop artists, Def Case and Deep Foundation.
Side by side, these community artists, rising stars, and professional singers and dancers will be sharing their talents with the Filipino community for free in a true spirit of the bayanihan.
The Bayanihan Cultural Festival is made possible by the generosity of our sponsors, Jollibee, Western Union, GMA Pinoy TV, GMA Life TV, Filipino Times and Manila Gorilla.
