Taste of the Philippines back for second year in a row in Regina, looks to break attendance records

Taste of the Philippines gives people a chance to try authentic Filipino cuisine, take in the entertainment, and check out vendor booths. (Damian Smith / CTV News)

The Taste of the Philippines event is underway this weekend in the Victoria Square parking lot - for the second year in a row.

This year marked the sixth year since 2018 that the festival has been held. A few prior events were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

With its gaining popularity, organizers are very satisfied with the turnout in the past few years. Last year, the festival saw between 10,000 to 12,000 people visit over the span of two days.

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Organizers expect there to be just as many people in attendance when the weekend wraps up.

“We really want to share our culture through our food, our art and our music,” Jingerly De Castro said, the organizer of Taste of the Philippines. “So, the more people coming here, the happier we are to share our culture. I want them to enjoy their time, and I want to show them how hospitable we are.”

That hospitality looks to keep this as a tradition in Regina, attracting visitors from other cultures.

“They [non-Filipinos] were so happy. They were so glad that they became a part of this event. With the food, they have their own favorites. We have the famous ones, like our version of stir-fried noodles, which is called ‘pancit’, our pork barbecue, the pork skewers. And of course, we’ll never forget lumpia,” De Castro said.

Despite the celebration, emotions were felt by the 40 volunteers this weekend as one member of the community is currently battling breast cancer. Volunteers wore pink shirts this year in her honour.