Christmas comes early to Los Angeles as Pasko sa Baryo (Christmas in the village) came to Historic Filipinotown Nov. 16 to bring together the kababayans (fellow Filipinos), in the area. In the Philippines, Christmas starts in “ber months” from September to December, even stretching into January.
The festival ran from 1:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. and featured plenty of Filipino vendors selling food, desserts and an assortment of goods. From 2:30 p.m. until the end of the event there were also a wide variety of performances from different Filipino artists alongside holiday oriented games and contests in between.
The event was filled with nostalgia. The outdoor venue featured a Christmas tree with Balikbayan boxes (packages sent to loved ones overseas), surrounding it and two jeepneys (decorated jeeps used for public transportation in the Philippines) on either side — which were both open for attendees to take photo-ops. Even before any performances started, the area was already filled with people lining up to buy food and different desserts. There was even a karaoke set out for anyone to join in and sing their favorite Christmas songs.
Many attendees expressed their love for the experience of being able to celebrate the early Christmas holidays. Pasko sa Baryo brings a piece of that extended festive season from the Philippines to those who can’t celebrate it in their home country.
“Yeah, normally we don’t feel it, the Christmas celebration until after Thanksgiving,” Annabelle Fuller, an accountant from Torrance said. “But coming here makes you feel like you’re also part of the local — I mean in the Philippines.”
A huge part of the celebration is supporting small businesses. Many of the attendees got to enjoy authentic Filipino dishes, street food and snacks. One of the many vendors featured was Wow Taho, selling Taho, a sweet Filipino street food often sold by street vendors carrying large aluminum buckets on a stick.
“We are proud to say that our product is authentic. It really is Filipino.,” Baby Lumague, Wow Taho’s owner said in Tagalog. “That’s our purpose, for Filipinos to be able to taste that it truly is authentic.”
Filipino artists selling many different crafts and apparel relating to the culture appeared further into the event’s outdoor area. The merchandise ranged from clothes and bags with Filipino phrases, Parols (handmade Christmas lanterns) for the holidays and many more.
Jewel Sales, a small business owner based in Los Angeles came to table for her business, Jewel Sales Art, where she sold handmade jewelry and art prints. Her sister, Marielle Sales also tabled with a separate business Sari Sari.
“This is just a place that I can build community and experience my community in person, as well as feeling connectivity,” Sales said.
Another Filipina artist, Mikayla “SWIPER” Delson has a booth celebrating Filipinas and Queer Filipinx with “I Heart Pinays,” bringing inclusivity to the festive event.
“I do a lot of Filipino events, so I found this was a good opportunity to share the brand and give like people a reason to shop local and small businesses,” Delson said. “My brand is for the girlies and the gays. So I definitely wanted to create statement T-shirts for us first. Anybody can wear it, but primarily serving the Filipinas, the Filipinx, all the queer baddies and everybody.”
After exploring the outdoor area, attendees could enter the indoor venue with a bar, a stage and a space to take photos with a Filipino Santa Claus. On the stage, there was a large lineup of talented Filipino artists there to perform with games sprinkled in between. It opened up with a DJ set by Reign, followed by the Philippines Chamber Singers-LA singing popular Christmas songs. Crowds gathered inside to watch and enjoy until 9 p.m.