Historic Filipinotown Festival

For those of you who don't know where Historic Filipinotown is, it's located on the Temple street corridor parallel to the Hollywood Freeway beginning at Glendale and ending around Hoover.

Today's festival started with a 5k run/walk in the morning and continued with music and dances performed by local dance troupes. There were also several narrated bus tours hosted by the Filipino American Library. During the tour, the guide explored the significance of several historical sites and people that shaped the neighborhood and answers the question, "What is historic about Historic Filipinotown?".

Scroll down for some pics of the festivities and the tour!


These are the banners that hang on the street lamps around Historic Filipinotown.


Jolibee was one of the primary food sponsors during the event. I opted out not to eat the Chicken Joy today, but it did look delish.


There was also a Goldilock's booth selling biscotti and ginseng tea. I wanted pastries and mocha rolls, dammit.


Randomly, John McCain was there too.


I have no clue who these ladies are but they were kind enough to let me take a picture of them.


On the bus tour, we stopped at Remy's Gallery where they currently have a traveling Smithsonian Institution exhibit called "Singgalot: The Ties That Bind (Filipinos in America, from Colonial Subjects to Citizens)." I learned quite a lot about the numerous waves of Filipino immigrants and that there are more Filipinos living in Illinois than in Seattle!


The only Filipino monument in America dedicated to the Filipino Veterans who fought in WWII. The monument is made of reflective stone because it's supposed to represent our reflection and how we're all part of the past. (Or something like that.)

There were other interesting highlights of the trip such as the guys behind us saying, "Dude, check this out!" or "Dude, we can have some poker night fundraiser!" or "Dude, I say dude too much!" We also had some fiasco with the Rampart po-po before our bus took off for the tour, but that's another story. Anyway, I highly suggest going on the tour because it's uber educational and offers a glimpse about the Filipinos who originally settled in the area and eventually had to relocate to other areas such as Carson and Cerritos.