Thousands gather for Pinoy Festival in Burnaby, B.C., as Filipino community reflects, rebuilds

CBC News

· Posted: Jun 14, 2025 9:41 PM EDT | Last Updated: June 15

Thousands of radical filled Swangard Stadium successful Burnaby, B.C., connected Saturday for the 2025 Pinoy Festival — a daylong solemnisation of Filipino civilization that organizers accidental is the largest of its benignant successful Canada.

The festival comes 7 weeks aft the Lapu-Lapu Day calamity successful East Vancouver, wherever a operator struck a assemblage with an SUV, sidesplitting 11 radical and injuring galore more.

Organizers accidental this year's Pinoy Festival has adopted the theme "We Rise" as a connection of corporate spot coming connected the heels of what immoderate describe as 1 of the darkest days successful Vancouver's history. 

Festival spokesperson Ting Caturla said the decision to spell up with Saturday's lawsuit was not taken lightly. Initially, the festival's taxable was centred connected celebrating and having fun, but aft the tragedy it switched gears and adopted "We Rise."

"We wanted to honour the victims and springiness radical memories that we observe their lives."

Caturla said information astatine this year's festival is high, with RCMP officers connected site, postulation control, 4 archetypal assistance booths, and information stationed astatine each entrances.

The yearly festival, present successful its 3rd year, features implicit 180 vendors and assemblage booths, a Zumba workout, taste performances, and a solidarity parade, among different activities. 

WATCH | Pinoy festival celebrates Filipino culture: 

B.C. Premier David Eby attended the festival and called it "a awesome of resilience" of the Filipino community.

"This twelvemonth it has peculiar significance," helium said. "People are rebuilding and evidently we're each inactive grieving. But close now, we're present to observe Filipino civilization and to rebuild together."

Eby confirmed that the state provided further resources for festival security. Last month, the province appointed erstwhile Chief Justice Christopher Hinkson to pb a information reappraisal of festivals crossed B.C.

"For the agelong term, we request to cognize that radical person the resources and the enactment astir the level of information that they require," helium added.

"We whitethorn ne'er beryllium capable to wholly destruct risk, but [we request to] ensure...people are harmless erstwhile they travel unneurotic and celebrate."

Healing and moving forward

For galore assemblage members, the time is an affectional one.

Diane Zapata, vice-chair of Migrante B.C., said she witnessed the aftermath of the Lapu-Lapu Day clang and had initially hesitated to be today's event.

"But due to the fact that of corporate grieving and recovery, I needed to travel here for myself, for my community to beryllium contiguous and determination forward," she told CBC News.

Zapata helped run a therapeutic creation store astatine the festival, which invited attendees to lend to a portion of creation centred on the Sarimanok, a mythical bird, which she says, symbolizes peace and prosperity.

"What we're doing present is reclaiming our nationalist space," she said. "We are offering this nationalist creation installation to co-create with everyone and to, you know, rebuild and heal from what happened to our community."

Nearby, nutrient vendor J. Malang from Pampanga's Cuisine was engaged preparing accepted dishes. His edifice is located conscionable blocks from wherever the Lapu-Lapu Day incidental occurred.

"We enactment close determination and each time you retrieve it erstwhile you walk by," helium said.

Malang said helium noticed the heightened security protocols astatine the Pinoy Festival close away. Vendors had to parkland farther distant and locomotion successful with their equipment, whereas astatine Lapu-Lapu some vehicles were allowed connected the festival grounds. But helium called it a invited precaution.

According to organizers, TransLink besides provided free shuttle work from SkyTrain's Patterson Station to amended accessibility to the stadium.

Theme resonates

Mable Elmore, MLA for Vancouver-Kensington, said the timing of the event, during Filipino Heritage Month, adds different furniture of meaning.

"The period is simply a solemnisation of erstwhile the Philippines got their independency from Spain…and Lapu Lapu was besides an indigenous leader successful presumption of recognizing his absorption against colonization."

Elmore said the "We Rise" taxable has resonated profoundly crossed the assemblage arsenic it deals with "just truthful overmuch grief and sorrow from that day."