TravTalk India Online Magazine
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.
Manas Dwivedi
The virtual festival has been organised to stimulate the experience of a festival through a combination of live and pre-recorded videos and live workshops and activities. The project aims to introduce and 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 Banzon-Abalos, Executive Director, Department of Foreign Affairs, says that they are hoping to bring the experience of the Philippine fiestas, though it will be on a screen, closer to people’s hearts. “Online celebration of Fiesta Filipinas is an innovative approach to promote Philippine culture and is a way of bringing Philippine culture and celebrations closer to Filipinos’ hearts despite the limitations of the pandemic,” she says.
The first Fiesta Filipinas virtual event will aptly celebrate the Christmas season in the Philippines, with the Giant Lantern Parade (December 19), 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). The Philippine government has also launched the distribution of ‘Fiesta Filipinas’ kit boxes.
