Festival of Philippine Arts and Culture

Be a part of the LARGEST CELEBRATION of Modern & Traditional FILIPINO Music, Dance, Art, Film & Food in SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA!

About the Festival:

FilAm ARTS traces its roots to the production of the Annual Festival of Philippine Arts & Culture (FPAC) first conceptualized in 1990 as part of the City of Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department’s Festivals Program, an arts program designed to address the multicultural constituency of the city.

Organized by about 100 artists and community leaders, the first FPAC took place at Los Angeles City College on Mother’s Day, May 14, 1992, where 3,000 participants braved the aftermath of the L.A. riots that occurred the week before. Since then, FPAC has only grown stronger and bigger, moving to Cabrillo Beach in 1994, then finally to its current location, Pt. Fermin Park, in the historic district of San Pedro in 2001.

Today, FPAC is the largest presenter of Philippine arts and culture in Southern California presenting over 1200 artists in 9 disciplines and attracting over 20,000 audience members from all over the country. Yet, after 17 years, FPAC is still a grassroots and community-led effort,produced by a core group of 50 volunteer professionals, in collaboration with 50 community-based and civic organizations, and involving over 300 volunteers.

Mission Statement:

The Association for the Advancement of Filipino American Arts and Culture, also known as FilAm ARTS is a multi-disciplinary community arts organization whose mission is to advance the understanding of the arts and diverse cultural heritage of Filipinos in the United States through presentation, education and arts services. FilAm ARTS provides arts as a service to the community through three major programs: Festival of Philippine Arts & Culture, Pilipino Artist Network, and Eskuwela Kultura.

Festival of Philippine Arts and Culture:

The Festival of Philippine Arts and Culture is the anchor program of FilAm ARTS. It is an annual series of multi-disciplinary arts events that takes place in the County of Los Angeles from poetry readings, concerts, to visual arts exhibits culminating in a two-day festival weekend.

Pilipino Artists Network:

The Pilipino Artists Network (PAN) is California-statewide, capacity-building program for established and emerging Filipino American artists in nine different disciplines: Traditional Folk Arts, Dance, Theater, Music, Visual Arts, Media Arts, Literary Arts, Arts Education, and Presenters. It is designed to promote the growth of multiple disciplines by developing mutually supportive relationships that provide greater access to resources and markets not otherwise available through individual efforts.

Eskuwela Kultura:

The Eskuela Kultura is an after school program that seeks to educate and empower Filipino and Latino youth of Historic Filipinotown through arts and mentorship with community leaders. It is a partner program of Search to Involve Pilipino Americans and FilAm ARTS sponsored by the Los Angeles City Community Development Department through the Neighborhood Action Program.