Fiesta Filipinas launched
The virtual festival has been organised to simulate the experience of a festival through a combination of live and pre-recorded videos and live workshops and activities
The Department of Foreign Affairs, Philippines, in cooperation with Department of Tourism & National Commission for Culture and Arts has launched ‘Fiesta Filipinas: An Online Celebration of Philippine Festivals'. This is a six-part, multi-format online event series from December 2020 until May 2021. The virtual festival has been organised to simulate the experience of a festival through a combination of live & prerecorded videos and live workshops and activities.
The project aims to showcase Philippine festivals, culture and traditions to a global audience. Every month for the next six months starting December, the Department of Tourism (DOT) will feature one virtual town fiesta, showcased as a way for locals to introduce their cultural festivity to the world stage, so that the Filipino diaspora and tourists can enjoy what the country has to offer, and invite people to visit once the pandemic is over.
During the launch, Roberto P Alabado III, Undersecretary, Tourism Regulation, Coordination & Resource Generation, said that DOT will identify 100 destinations and give them its stamp of approval, providing what hotels and resorts to stay in and the services available. “This type of project whets the appetite of tourists who would like to experience our culture,” he says.
Marie Yvette BanzonAbalos, Executive Director, Department of Foreign Affairs, says, “Fiesta Filipinas is an innovative approach to promote Philippine culture and is a way of bringing Philippine culture and celebrations closer to people's hearts despite the limitations of the pandemic.”
The first Fiesta Filipinas virtual event celebrated the Christmas season, with the Giant Lantern Parade (December 19), to be followed by the Sinulog, Ati-Atihan and Dinagyang Festivals (January 30, 2021), the Panagbenga Festival (February 27, 2021), Visita Iglesia (March 20, 2021), Lami-Lamihan Festival (April 24, 2021), and end with the Flores De Mayo/ Santacruzan (May 29, 2021).
This type of project whets the appetite of tourists who would like to experience our culture It is a way of bringing Philippine culture and celebrations closer to people's hearts despite the the pandemic