“Maybe one day one of these children here, or maybe your grandchildren can also become the prime minister of the United Kingdom. That is my hope for you,” said former Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in her address to the Filipino-British community during Barrio Fiesta 2023 at Lampton Park, London, on Saturday, 10 June.
Praising Filipinos for making a success of themselves in Britain, Mrs Arroyo cited the example of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak for having been elected as the first British leader of Indian descent.
Mrs Arroyo was the guest speaker on the first day of the Philippine festival in London. She was introduced by Philippine Ambassador Teodoro Locsin Jr. The mayor of Hounslow, Councillor Afzaal Kiani, was also a guest at the event.
The barrio fiesta in London is an annual cultural festival of the Filipino-British community to celebrate Philippine food, music, dance and arts.
There are an estimated 200,000 Filipinos in the UK, some 40,000 of them working for the National Health Service. Several of them have been honoured by the Royal Family for their services to the community, especially during the pandemic.
The barrio fiesta in London started in 1985 and became an annual gathering of the Filipino-British community. Traditionally organised by the charity Philippine Centre and later on sponsored by the media company ABS-CBN, the festival was last held in 2019. ABS-CBN was shut down in 2020 when Congress refused to renew its franchise.
This year, the celebration was solely organised by Errol Isip of Barrio Fiesta Ltd.
Traditional dance and pop music
The event showcased both traditional Philippine dances and contemporary music.
Several community groups performed traditional dances. Filipino Leeds Community gave the audience a taste of the dinagyang festival held annually in Iloilo in the southern Philippines, while Igorot UK members danced with their gongs. There were also performances by Sinulog Dorset UK and a few other groups.
Towards the afternoon, Filipino-American musician Apl.de.Ap and singer-actor Jiro Custodio entertained the crowds with their hits. Despite the sweltering heat, the crowd joined in the singing and dancing.
Expensive and long queues for food
Many guests were glad that the festival is back after three years. However, they were disappointed that people were not allowed to bring food and drinks to the venue and that there were long queues to buy food.
It was 29 degrees Celsius on Saturday and people complained that they were not allowed to bring in water.
On the Barrio Fiesta Facebook page, Leilani Mayes wrote that security at the gate confiscated their drinks “on the hottest day” of the year. She brought along her autistic son “who got anxious” as they queued for about an hour for food.
Local Hounslow resident Mark Filip Racho was with his wife, children and friends from Brighton. Their friends were staying with them for the night to attend the barrio fiesta.
Speaking in Filipino, Mark said that the queues for food and drinks were quite long. One of his friends added that people were getting into arguments because of the long wait for food.
Gina Calde from London suggested that the organisers should have allowed people to bring food, especially families with small children. She said that people would buy from the food stalls anyway because they would be around the whole day for the festival.
Another attendee complained on Facebook about the expensive food at the festival. Kingsley Jackson said he paid £12 for one chicken wing, rice and sausage. Water and soft drinks were also priced at £2 each.
To avoid the queues, some attendees went out of the venue to buy food or eat in the local cafes and takeaway shops along Hounslow high street.
Businesses at the festival
Apart from food stalls, there were remittance companies, property developers, recruitment agencies, and freight forwarding companies at Lampton Park. There were also stalls selling Philippine-made handbags and jewelry.
Razell Ann Alcazar, area manager of PHIRST Park Homes, said that the event was a good way to introduce the company to Filipinos in Britain. She said that not many kababayans knew about them so she was pleased they had joined the barrio fiesta.
“We had more sign-ups than we expected,” Ms Alcazar said.
Loralie Canale of World Remit said she and her team had a busy time attending to customers. Their stall was busy with Filipinos signing up for their services and sending money to families in the Philippines.
The recruitment agency Filipino Staff Ltd was also there hiring domestic staff, carers, nurses and nannies. Elliot Wise, chief finance officer, said that they supply Filipino workers to top companies and organisations in London.
Upcoming barrio fiestas
The organisers were forced to end the second day of the barrio fiesta early because of thunderstorms and heavy rains in the early afternoon of 11 June.
In a statement posted on the Barrio Fiesta Facebook page, Mr Isip wrote that the bad weather posed a potential risk to the safety and well-being of attendees which prompted Hounslow Council to order the immediate end to the program.
There are more barrio fiestas scheduled across the UK in the coming weeks. Among them are the Manchester Barrio Fiesta on 25 June, Leeds Barrio Fiesta on 1 July and Fil Fest Kent on 2 September.
