Officially, Filipino Heritage Month has only existed in Canada since 2019, and Neepawa has been celebrating it as long as it’s been around. The first local festival was modelled after an earlier event that celebrated Neepawa’s diversity with a potluck meal, walking parade, and music. While organisers in 2019 planned a relatively modest event, it ended up attracting over 1000 people. Planning began in early 2020 for the next one, but like so many things, plans were derailed by the arrival of Covid-19.

This year’s festival includes a regional theme, with eight regions showing off their unique traditions and also competing in various events including a dance competition and tug-of-war. Organisers Lyane Cypres-Zepik and Van Afuang express how the regional representation is important with the Filipino community in Canada, but also how they want to demonstrate to other Canadians that the Philippines has a great amount of diversity within it and a lot of that diversity is also represented here in Canada.

“We want to share our culture. We want to share our foods. We want to share the performances, the dance,” says Cypres-Zepik. “The culture that we have in the Philippines, we want to share with the community.”

Most events will take place in a single day, including a parade, dignitaries, games and competitions, music, and of course, food. But there have also been other local events to observe Filipino Heritage Month, including day-long volleyball and basketball tournaments for women and men respectively.

This year organisers are expecting over 2000 people on the day of the festival, drawing attendees not just from the immediate area but from west to the Saskatchewan border and east to the Pembina valley. Dignitaries attending the event include Dauphin-Swan River-Neepawa MP Dan Mazier, Agassiz MLA Eileen Clarke, and Manitoba Minister for Advanced Education, Skills and Immigration Jon Reyes, himself the child of immigrants from the Philippines.

While it is a day of celebration, it’s not just that for many Filipino community members. While there are an increasing number of Filipino families in the area, there are many other people who are working in Neepawa and currently separated from their families while they go through the necessary processes to reunite with them in Canada. While no one is immune to homesickness, an event like this can be particularly helpful to make newcomers feel at home and welcome in the community.

“This is the very essence of this event,” says Afuang, “just to make Filipinos happy away from home.”