Philippines Street Festival

Hi everyone,

Here is a brief guide to what the Philippines Street Festival is all about:

Enlisting the local Filipino Community to showcase six of the most popular street festivals in the Philippines, the Philippine Embassy in Seoul will hold a series of activities at the recently opened Banpo Park on July 5 to celebrate the 111th Philippine Independence Day, the 14th Filipino Migrant Workers Day and the 60th Anniversary of Philippines- Korea Bilateral Relations.

The featured events will include the Panagbenga, a festival of flowers; Sinulog, Ati-atihan and Flores de Mayo, religious festivals that underline the importance of Christianity in the Philippines; Masskarra, a parade of masks; and Kadayawan, a popular thanksgiving festival in Southern Philippines.

Approximately 300 members of the Filipino Community from all over South Korea have volunteered to take part in the street dances, training for two months under professional instructors sent by the Philippine National Commission for Culture and the Arts.

The street dances will begin at 1:30PM and last for about one and a half hours. A mass for the Filipino Community will open the festivities in the morning while a brief recognition ceremony for Korean individuals and organizations that actively help Filipino workers will take place after the parade of festivals.

The daylong program will also include labor counseling services by the Korea Ministry of Labor, a concert by Filipino bands based in South Korea, and free tests and basic medical services by the Seoul National University Hospital.

The Philippine National Day is celebrated every year on June 12 and the Philippine Migrant Workers Day, an annual celebration in honor of Filipinos working abroad, in the month of June.

What: Philipines Street Festival

When: July 5 (Sunday, from 1.30pm

Where: Banpo Riverside Park, Southern Seoul - it's opposite the Banpo Express Bus Terminal
Let's meet outside the bus terminal station (lines 3,7) at exit 3. From there we can transfer to a bus (the 8401 bus) to the park or get taxis.
UPDATE - since I will be going earlier for the picnic, those of you who won't be coming until 1.30pm should meet up at the exit and either take a bus or a taxi together to the park and find us there. You can contact this number: 011-1744-1971.

NOTE: The bus terminal is at (Banpo) Express Bus Terminal, where subway lines no.3 and no.7 connect (orange and olive green lines). In Korean it is 고속버스터미널. Please check that the subway station is the one on the orange and olive green lines, as there are other bus terminal stations nearby and it could be confusing if you don't know it.

Cost: the festival is free and open to the public

Suggestion: It might be nice to bring some food and drinks and have a picnic in the park before the street dances start at 1.30pm, so perhaps we could have the picnic at 1pm. Banpo Park has been given a facelift and looks very nice in some photos that I've seen. Please leave your suggestions everyone!

UPDATE:
I read that bikes can be rented at Banpo Riverside Park, so anyone who is interested in that, there is that option.

Also, I think the weather will be good, so I'm going ahead with the picnic plan. Let's meet at 1pm at the subway station exit and get a taxi there. Anyone who is interested in the picnic, please leave a post and indicate what you might like to bring.