“The Barrio Fiesta celebration was a blast! I always attend Pinoy celebrations to support and be one with our kababayans. It is great to sing OPM songs with them, eat the much-missed Filipino food and delicacies, and exchange the warmest smiles and hugs while wishing Merry Christmas to each one. This is about sharing the warmth of assurances needed for the longing felt. For Filipinos in diaspora, this is the closest they can ever be to being home for Christmas.”
These words are not mine but from a wise man and well-loved academician named Dr. Rex Venard Bacarra.
Well, I was so happy, too, when I went to the second ‘Barrio Fiesta in Dubai’ organized by The Filipino Channel (TFC) of ABS-CBN Global at the Zabeel Park Gate 5 event area last December 3. Not that I was once connected with the ‘Kapamilya’ network in the mid-2000s but as the ‘initiator’ of the ‘Bayanihan Festival’ which was first held on December 5, 2008 at the same park but in another venue, the megabowl which was near the Karama district.
It was a nostalgic sight and sound experience. For eight consecutive years, the ‘Bayanihan Festival’ was organized by the alliance of Filipino organizations in Dubai and Northern Emirates. The inaugural event in 2008 ran from 8 am to 11 pm with these major activities: mini-bazaar, food fair, kite flying, lantern parade and competition, cheer-dance competition, kiddie ballroom, chorale competition, dance group presentation, Palarong Pinoy, and a mini-concert by Philippine-based TV and movie stars.
The ‘Barrio Fiesta in Dubai’ had almost the same elements with the earlier editions of ‘Bayanihan Festival’ where visitors just paid Dhs5 to enter Zabeel Park. The TFC event collected Dhs35 per person and Dhs20 per student, inclusive of entrance fee to the park. I was not able to observe the first ‘Barrio Fiesta in Dubai’ on December 6, 2019, as we were in Al Ain the whole day for our Catholic community’s yearend gathering.
Even though there is a big difference in entrance fee, I fully support the concept of ‘Barrio Fiesta in Dubai’ and I hope it will be replicated next year and the years to come. I have seen how the first two ‘Bayanihan Festival’ occasions took a lot of personal and family time from the leaders and volunteers of various Filipino organizations. Sometimes the core leaders would take official leaves from their work. Planning usually starts in August and it gets stressful and hectic days before the big day.
Another thing that I would like to see again is the TFC Filipino Expo (FilExpo). The last one, the 3rd edition, was held in 2015 with the theme ‘Buhay, Kabuhayan At Iba Pa’ conducted at the Le Meridien Hotel in Dubai on October 30 and 31. I remember it very well because I was one of the resource speakers on Personal and Professional Branding with image consultant Agnes Aquino-Briggs on the second day. The first TFC FilExpo was launched from June 19 to 21, 2008, at the World Trade Center in Dubai.
In the meantime, to borrow the words of Dr. Bacarra again, let us ‘exchange the warmest smiles and hugs while wishing Merry Christmas to each one.’