| 2004
MABUHAY Philippines Toronto Summer Festival
Heritage Court, National Trade Centre, Exhibition Place
Aug. 6-7, 2004
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Chinese version in PDF format
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“2004
Mabuhay Philippines Toronto Summer Festival”, presented
by Philippine Independence Day Council (PIDC), with the
support of the Ontario Trillium Foundation, the Toronto
Arts Council and Arts Presentation Canada had ended successfully.
The Festival’s aim was to showcase Philippine heritage
and culture to mainstream society. This event took place
on August 6th and 7th, 2004 at Heritage Court, National
Trade Centre, Exhibition Place, with free admission. There
were 2 stages and many food and goods booths. People could
freely enjoy the performances and traditional food. |
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opening ceremony began at noon on August 6th. Pauline Chen
of CTV was the MC of the opening ceremony. The guests who
attended the ceremony included: Alexandro Mosquerra (Philippine
Consul General), Jose Saavedra (President of PIDC), Joseph
Redoblado (Chairman of Mabuhay Festival), Melody Olmos (Miss
Philippines PIDC 2004), Reilly Danielle Bragado Sousa (Little
Miss Philippines PIDC 2004) and more. Emil Zarris and Cristian
Serrano sang many delightful songs, creating a wonderful
atmosphere.
This two-days’ festival featured
non-stop musical and cultural performances from many performing
groups, i.e. singers, dancers, bands and entertainers.
For the first time, PIDC worked with the Toronto Catholic
District School Board in organizing a poster contest and
exhibition. Students from Grades 5 – 12 in the GTA
were invited to join in creating a poster with the theme
“Mabuhay Festival: A Celebration of the Contributions
by the Filipino Community to Canada.” An awards
ceremony was held and all the artworks were exhibited
during the festival. Another special event was “The
Mabuhay Cup”, also the first time in the festival’s
history, a basketball tournament for Ontario based Filipino
athletic groups. The Cup winner, runner-up and third place
finishers awards were presented during the festival.
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Santacruzan
was the other main feature of the Mabuhay Festival.
Santacruzan is a long standing tradition in the Philippines,
commemorating Queen Helena’s voyage in search
of the cross of Jesus. Guest of honors included the
Mubuhay Star Babies, Little Miss Philippines PIDC 2004,
Miss Philippines PIDC 2004, Miss Manila, Miss Maria
Clara and more.
Besides
the programs on August 6th and 7th, a big event “Mabuhay
Parade” was held on August 8th at 3:00 pm, The
route began at Queen’s Park, going south to Bloor
Street, east to Sherbourne Street, south on Sherbourne,
west on Wellesley Street and then back to Queen’s
Park. All the parade teams wore colorful and traditional
Philippines costumes. They marched forward in the music,
showing people a spirit of unity and bringing to us
a joyful and harmonized atmosphere.
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