How to Host a Filipino Fiesta
In the Philippines, there are many fiestas throughout the year. As a significant part of Philippine culture, each city or province has at least one major fiesta every year. There are smaller fiestas celebrated in towns and municipalities within a calendar year as well. These festivities also extend to Filipino communities overseas as they host fiestas to celebrate Philippine culture, customs and traditions in other parts of the world.
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Instructions
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Designate a formal or informal committee or team to take charge of the various preparations for the fiesta. As a type of festivity primarily celebrated in various parts of the Philippine archipelago, a Filipino fiesta can be very formal with officers and their specific designations written on paper. Yet, it can also be quite informal where volunteers simply do the work based on what the main host verbally assigns to them.
A committee or team generally includes the main host who can also be addressed as chairman, along with the secretary, treasurer, auditor, documentation head, publicity head, events coordinator, guests coordinator and many others. In smaller fiestas like those involving a family or a small group or community, the committee or team can also be a family or the homeowner officers. It is also possible for school and youth organizations to participate or collaborate in fiestas. Even a local church or religious organization can serve as host since many fiestas are dedicated to religious celebrations and saints.
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List specific events planned for the fiesta and contact the people who can work on them. Most of the big fiestas organize singing contests, beauty pageants, film screenings, dance performances and various traditional contests and parlor games. Band parades are also always a significant part of Philippine fiestas.
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Finalize the schedule for the fiesta. Usually, a fiesta is held during the weekend to pave way for more people to participate. The availability of the people directly involved in the hosting and organizing of the fiesta are also crucial in making the final schedule. Usually, a Filipino fiesta is a one-day or a week-long celebration.
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Confirm the locations for each event for the fiesta. Secure any required permit from the local town government or homeowner associations, especially when needing to temporarily close some roads from traffic and building platforms and stages in various areas of the community.
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Plan the food to be served for the celebration. In any Filipino fiesta, apart from the presence of a band parade, one thing that is always present is great food allowing participants to indulge in hearty eating. Food served are typically Filipino specialties like menudo, relyenong bangus, adobo, pinakbet, barbeque, leche flan, gelatin and other traditional Filipino fish, meat and vegetable dishes, rice delicacies and desserts. These food offerings are typically present in every household. This means that when a small community, town or city celebrates a fiesta, apart from the main host's food offerings, each house typically has food offerings, and people move form one house to another to celebrate the fiesta.
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Prepare and send out personal invitations with the schedule, program and events planned for the fiesta. This can be a simple letter signed by the host, a flyer, a brochure or an artistic invitation similar to those given during birthdays and weddings.
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Tips & Warnings
While many fiestas in the Philippines are scheduled at particular times of the year, there also are non-regular celebrations. These type of fiestas may include a celebration a Filipino artist, scientist or athlete. Others, especially fiestas abroad, become extensions of Philippine celebrations. They may share the same schedule as fiestas in the Philippines or or may occur on dates favorable to Filipino communities abroad.
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