By Justine Chahal
The third annual Bayanihan Festival, held as a celebration of Filipino culture, will occur during the day on Sunday, Oct. 12 at Elk Grove’s District56 event venue.
The free festival is organized by nonprofit organization Bukang Liwayway Pilipino-Amerikano Pangarap Asosasyon, or Dawn Filipino-American Dream Association, founded in 2023 by CEO and president Edith Montemayor, who had previously been involved in other Filipino organizations for the past two decades.
“I noticed that there was a lack of something like that here in Elk Grove,” Montemayor says. “I wanted to combine all of [the] experiences here, mainly to promote and preserve the Filipino-American culture.”
In 2023, the U.S. Census Bureau reported that about one-third of Elk Grove’s population identified as Asian, with 27% identifying as Filipino.
The event fulfills part of the organization’s goal by honoring the local Filipino community through live performances, local bands and vendors who will be selling a variety of items. There will also be activities like arts and crafts for children, games and a karaoke contest.
Performances include traditional Filipino dances, such as the national dance Tinikling which involves participants dancing between bamboo poles on the ground, says Montemayor. These dances are executed by BLPAPA’s own performing arts program and will represent different regions of the Philippines.
When the festival first launched in 2023, it started off strong with over 5,000 attendees, Montemayor says. She adds that seeing the festival’s success brings her joy.
“I am just taken aback when I am right there on the stage thanking everyone and I’m looking around seeing all of the different people coming out with their families,” Montemayor says. “It feels like it’s all worth it to see everyone come together to enjoy this special day and just to hang out.”
It is a huge undertaking to organize the event, especially since all six board members are volunteers, but Montemayor says they’re able to put it together with the assistance of high school volunteers. Younger people like herself are now beginning to run these cultural events, she adds.
“When this festival came about, I got a whole lot of feedback from the community saying that they love the new faces, the new generation coming in to pretty much take over,” Montemayor says. “We are the new generation coming in with new ideas and seeing what else we could do to bring everyone together.”
This story is part of the Solving Sacramento journalism collaborative. Our partners include California Groundbreakers, Capital Public Radio, Hmong Daily News, Russian America Media, Sacramento Business Journal, Sacramento News & Review and Sacramento Observer. Support stories like these here, and sign up for our monthly newsletter.
I think that this event will be great to bring different cultures into our community. The city of elk grove should have some more diversity and I believe that there should be more events like this. This seems like a great opportunity to learn about the Filipino culture and experience their ways of living life.