The University of the Philippines Alumni Association of Edmonton spent the weekend of September 12 and 13 at Louise McKinney Park, hosting the Family and Kids Zone at the Edmonton Filipino Fiesta.
It was a simple setup and a busy one. Kids painted wooden ornaments, coloured their way through stacks of sheets, and took home bookmarks. The bouncy castle ran from open to close both days and rarely had an empty minute. Parents got a place to sit, and more than a few stayed to chat.
Our volunteers, in UP shirts, ran the booth across both days, with several giving up their full weekend to do it. Setting up a space where families can land for a while is not glamorous work, but it is the kind that makes a festival feel like a community event rather than a series of stages. Maraming salamat to every one of them.
Thanks as well to the fiesta organizers for the space, and to the vendors who kept us fed. If you stopped by to say hello, that mattered too.
Photos from the weekend:
What’s next
UPAAE has a full fall ahead. On October 10, member Mila Bongco Philipzig launches The Wonderful Worlds in Edmonton and The Longest Banig at the Prince of Wales Armouries, alongside Ida Beltran-Lucila’s Cultural Mapping: Echoes of Identity. Our Christmas party follows on November 28 at the Pleasantview Community League, open this year to friends and guests as well as members.
