Local group to celebrate Filipino American History Month with feast, dancing

The Filipino American Northwest Association will be hosting its second annual event celebrating Filipino American History Month this weekend.

The celebration, featuring cultural food and dances, will be held at the West Central Community Center from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday .

“We celebrate it every year,” said Jacqueline Babol, president of Filipino American Northwest Association. “To commemorate and celebrate the traditions and the help that we have made to American history.”

The event, funded by an arts and culture grant the nonprofit received from the City of Spokane, is open to everyone. Organizers are expecting about 500 attendees.

Attendance is free. but seating is limited. Food, catered by Island Style Food, will cost $25 a plate.

Babol encourages prospective attendees to preorder their tickets.

“When we hosted the Asian American Pacific Islander (event) in Spokane Valley, we were expecting 300. Seven hundred came.”

Information to preorder can be found at filamnw.com/events-1.

This year’s theme is “Unity in Diversity.”

“It’s a multicultural event,” Babol said. “We are more than a Filipino group. We’re more like an Asian group, because we’re a mixed-culture group.”

In addition to a Philippine dance, the event will feature performances by Ballet Folklorico de Spokane, Spokane Chinese Association Dancers, Marshallese First Gospel and Indian Youth Club of Spokane.

“We are trying to teach our kids that even though we came from somewhere, it’s nice to know your identity. But at the same time, you are not just your past, because you can become anything that you want to be in the future because we shape our future,” Babol said.