For many Filipinos in the greater Tampa Bay area, attending Philfest with their family, or even participating in its many festivities, can be as integral to their cultural experience as religious celebrations, family parties or long treks back to the motherland.
While the three-day Philfest now boasts a reputation as one of Tampa Bay’s biggest cultural festivals—perhaps only on par with the Tampa Bay Caribbean Carnival, St. Stefanos’ Greek Festival or Oktoberfest—there’s a generational shift happening behind the scenes that may affect Philfests to come.
The 2024 rendition of Philfest returns to the Philippine Cultural Enrichment Complex—headquarters of the Philippine Cultural Foundation, Inc. (stylized as “PCFI”)—from Friday-Sunday, April 5-7 with entry fees of $8-$10. With festivities happening from 5 p.m.-11 p.m. on Friday, 10 a.m.-11 p.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m.-6 p.m. on Sunday, the massive Filipino celebration is known for its nonstop schedule of parades, modern and traditional dancing, pageants, cultural activities, talent competitions, singing (and not just the Magic Mic kind), a wide range of food stalls, arts and crafts and more.
Last year’s Philfest boasted the highest-ever attendance in the event’s almost 30 year-old existence with over 16,000 guests over the course of three days. Not only do Filipinos come from other cities and states to attend—a handful of the festival’s performers travel from places like California or Canada to showcase their talents at the massive event.
While many who attend Philfest may walk through the complex’s regal gates with nothing but piping hot BBQ skewers on their minds, few may truly know of the intricate history and monumental fundraising efforts in which the organization and its annual festival were built on.
The Philippine Cultural Foundation’s local roots span back three decades, and the original founders of the PCFI are in large part retired or have unfortunately passed away over the years. With the 28th annual Philfest right around the corner, original co-founder Joey Omila reflects on his many years of grassroots organizing with the foundation, the collective entity behind Tampa’s beloved Philfest and other cultural events.
Omila sits inside of the complex’s enormous ballroom while folks quickly decorate around him, getting the space ready for its annual Philfest spotlight. While the festival’s food stalls, vendors and entertainment happen outside, the ballroom will be taken over by Washington D.C’s Philippine Embassy, where it will conduct a dual-citizenship ceremony for newly-appointed Filipino-Americans as a part of Philfest this weekend.
Omila is one of the several leaders who are accredited with the success of the Philippine Cultural Foundation and has spent countless years as its Director of Cultural Affairs before retiring a few years ago.
“When we decided to purchase land and build a Filipino cultural center, we had the goal of making it the only of its kind in the United States—and I think we’ve absolutely achieved that goal,” the 74 year-old from Cotabato City tells Creative Loafing Tampa Bay. “A lot of our success is due to the fact that we have always opened Philfest to every Filipino whether they’re from the Tampa Bay area or not—everyone that comes here feels like they are part of something bigger.”
The organization’s history dates back to the early-‘90s when leaders of multiple different Pinoy organizations in the greater Tampa Bay area realized that they had to join forces in order to achieve their goals of community building. In 1993, the umbrella organization that would later be renamed the Philippine Cultural Foundation was created, encompassing a dozen other groups like the Philippine Performing Arts Company, the Pilipino-American Political Aggregation and the Philippine Medical Society of Florida West Coast Chapter, just to name a few.
After its first few years of fundraising, organizing events and soliciting donations from the community, the foundation purchased its first five-acre property in a rather unpopulated area near Citrus Park in 1995, which Omila describes as “cowland.” The next year, they gathered even more funds and purchased five more acres off of Nine Eagles Drive.
Through militant fundraising, events, and volunteers who donated their expertise in architecture, design work, contracting and engineering—plus a $500,000 cultural grant from the State of Florida—the newly-constructed Philippine Cultural Enrichment Complex boasted a theater and performance area, massive ballroom, a playground, a variety of pavilions and the Bayanihan Arts Center by the turn of the century.
When asked how the foundation has been so successful at fundraising over the course of its 30-year history, Omila responds by saying that he’s answered that same question many times from other Filipino organizations looking to build the same reputation as PCFI.
“I think the secret is that you have to know the Filipinos very well, and I’m not saying I’m an expert, but I’ve seen the effects of ideas that I’ve had in the past. Once you get the community believing in you, the support can become monumental,” Omila explains. “During our first few years of fundraising we told the community exactly what their money was going towards every time we completed a project. We told them that ‘We bought this land because of you and we’re just the volunteers.’ You have to make them feel important.”
Another aspect that makes Tampa’s Philippine Cultural Foundation so unique–besides the fact that it’s completely owned by the local community, debt-free—is its focus on religious inclusivity. Although a majority of Filipinos who live in the diaspora and in the Philippines identify as Catholic, Omila says that the organization “needed to be fair to everyone because there were Protestants, other Christians and Muslims who were involved in the foundation as well.”
While the influence of Omila and other OG leaders is still prevalent within the PCFI, he tells CL that there’s a generational shift happening, where younger folks are starting to take over and implement their own ideas.
Although 55 year-old Nhick Ramiro Pacis from the northern Ilocos region doesn’t identify as “the younger generation,” he still credits himself with helping the organization increase its online presence and technological abilities. After several years of visiting and performing at Philfest and other PCFI events as a traveling musician, he found himself accepting the full-time role as its Program and Music Director, virtually taking over Omila’s responsibilities.
“Joey and his peers are passing on the torch and we’re just continuing what they started so many years ago—and a lot of the younger people have great ideas,” Pacis tells CL. “We’re definitely trying to fill this generational gap to get the younger people to see the same value in the foundation as we see, but that can be a challenge sometimes.”
Omila, while greatly proud of the organization’s achievements and the success of events like Philfest and the Sampaguita Ball pageant, still worries about the longevity of Tampa’s Philippine Cultural Foundation. Despite its monumental progress throughout its 30-year history, constant fundraising is still necessary to keep the nonprofit running smoothly.
“Philfest and Sampaguita Ball are now both very successful, but my biggest fear is that maybe the newer generation is not so involved or committed to keep things moving in the right direction,” Omila explains. “The younger generation may do some things differently, even more efficiently, so we may see more changes to come. But that is still my worry.”
Pacis agrees with his predecessor’s sentiments, and says that his main focus as a leader within PCFI is to increase participation amongst the younger Filipinos in their teens and twenties.
Omila has seen literally hundreds of small children grow into adults throughout his time at the Philippine Cultural Foundation—kids he used to teach traditional folk dances to are now in their 20’s and 30’s having children of their own. He’s seen firsthand the communal effect of having a tight knit cultural organization like PCFI, whether it serves as a welcoming committee for newly-immigrated families or as a resource center for folks in need of socio-economic support.
Whether it’s your first Philfest or your 20th, it’s important to recognize the hundreds of leaders, philanthropists and volunteers it has taken to create the massive Philippine Cultural Enrichment Complex. These Filipinos are 8,000 miles away and a 20-something hour plane ride from their families—separated by continents and oceans—and have worked endlessly to create some semblance of home right here in Tampa. And the PCFI’s 28th Philfest happening this weekend can be considered a small slice of “home” for thousands of Filipinos in Tampa Bay and beyond.
For the latest updates on Philfest 2024, its entertainment schedule and vendor list, head to @PhilFestTampa on Facebook or pcfitampa.org.
