‘Pistahan sa Toronto’ dishes out nostalgia

Santacruzan during the two-day “Pistahan sa Toronto. PHOTOS BY MARISA ROQUE

TORONTO, Ontario – Filipino Canadians here got a huge shot of nostalgia June 13 and 14 from “Pistahan sa Toronto 2015” at Nathan Phillips Square, Toronto City Hall, a fitting segue to the Philippines’ 117th Independence Day rites held the previous Friday, June 12.

“Pistahan” was the happy counterpoint to the solemn June 12 rites, serving up Pinoy tradition–beauty, music, merrymaking and food, thanks to the Filipino Centre of Toronto (FCT) and The Filipino Channel (TFC) collaboration.

Linda Cerrudo-Javier, FCT president, welcomed special guests Philippine Consul General to Toronto Rose Prospero and York Centre’s member of Parliament Mark Adler, whose riding is home to one of the largest concentrations of Filipinos in the Greater Toronto Area.

Sunny Saturday featured local celebrities like young Filipino Canadian songbirds Inah Canlapan and Martha Joy, a Top 10 finalist in the 2007 “Canadian Idol” singing contest.

The TFC “Kapamilya” show offered Tart Carlos and Viveika Ravanes from the teleserye “Be Careful with My Heart” and the lovely Erich Gonzales, host and teleserye star of “Two Wives,” “Once a Princess” and “Juan de la Cruz.”

A “Parada ng Lechon” rounded up the afternoon, when whole roast pigs were brought to the FCT tent, chopped up and served for onlookers to sample.

Sunday’s cold drizzle was not enough to dampen the enthusiasm of local Pinoys who cheered and clapped for young Filipino models in colorful variations of the terno and barong Tagalog.

The highlight of the day was the Santacruzan, a traditional Filipino procession that had a bevy of young Filipinas from the community portraying strong women from the Bible (Queen Esther, Queen Judith), the virtues of faith, hope and charity (Fe, Esperanza and Caridad) and the titles of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Queen of Virgins, Queen of Confessors, Queen of the Most Holy Rosary), among others.

Little girls dressed as angels escorted by boys dressed in suits or barong Tagalog, led the parade.  The Santacruzan is a reenactment of St. Helena’s (the Holy Roman Emperor Constantine’s mother) search for the relic of the true Cross.

The Filipino Centre of Toronto, located at 597 Parliament Street in Toronto, provides transplanted Filipino Canadians community services like free medical clinics, heritage classes, computer classes, homework assistance for students, reading programs and other cultural events.  For information on all FCT activities, please visit www.filipinocentretoronto.com.

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