By accidents of time and circumstance and general non-HOPpiness, I've never been to much less participated in the Grand Philippine Fiesta Kultura, one of the largest, liveliest and longest running Fil-com events in all of Australia. Well that ends now! I mean, para que AHOP if no tokwa't and ribbon-cut? Ihanda ang Barriometrics!
Scouting Report
If it were an Australian basketball player it would be: Luc Longley (an O.G. around since the 90s; took up lots of space but never got in the way; not the biggest star but central to overall team success; Luuuuuuuuc kinda sounds like Baluuuuuuut)
Size Matters?
Fiesta Kultura's held at the showgrounds of Fairfield, an outer western suburb about 45 minutes from central Sydney. The venue's sprawling, spacious and -- as proudly pointed out by the local Aus officials -- roofed and weatherproofed. Which is all good, because despite Kultura's relatively remote, isolated, kailangan dayuhin location...dinadayo siya! Over 30,000 strong!
The power of Mari-Tolits! Walang gustong magpaiwan!
BBQi (the barbecue index)
I don't know if it speaks to bigger-than-expected crowds or fewer-than-needed foodstalls, but there were Luc Looooooongley lines for every Pinoy BBQ and Bibingka place. Willing to wait naman. On our part, the LLDD-Baby and I were happy to get the last few available servings of a familiar hamburjer joint.
yeah, BB
Bring the Kids
Oh yes, they had all the essential "P"s of children's entertainment: playgrounds...
...PUJs...
...and Passport parties
Consulate Advisory: find someone who loves you the way this kid loves his passport
Fabuloos
As the local Aus officials also proudly pointed out, the place is a well-established showground, so all the toilet facilities are permanent, brick-and-mortar and well-maintained. Oh, and you can watch Elvis and Tina gatecrashing the secondary stages/mass venue whenever you'd peer out the bathroom windows
I never thought I'd put those words in the same sentence, but here we are
Star Grazing / Fringe Benefits
Could the bigger-than-expected crowds and Mari-Tolits buzz possibly be attributed to the fiesta's opening act debutante?
no, no it could not, but this is the only decent public-speaking picture of me ever, so pagbigyan nyo na ako
While there were some singers and stand-ups flown in for the occasion, for me the stars of the show were the fringes of thefiesta, or as I originally defined this barriometric metric, "The more WTF moments around, the better". Everywhere you'd turn, there'd be racecar revving or some pageant walking or carnival dancing or contest eating or parkour breakdancing or rapper rapping or goddamn face-melting metal head banging EVERYONE WAS GOING AT IT SO HARD
Final Fiesta Rating: 10 YEEEEE-AAARRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHs out of 10
The power of Mari-Tolits! Walang gustong magpaiwan!
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