Celebrating 56 Years of the Annual Barrio Fiesta®: May 23 and 24
Food, culture, exhibits, games, contests, entertainment and special events: There’s something for everyone!
Alfredo G. Evangelista | Assistant Editor
Every year, for the past 56 years (even during the pandemic when it was held virtually), the Annual Barrio Fiesta® has been celebrated by Maui’s diverse ethnic community. The 56th edition will be held at Binhi at Ani Filipino Community Center in Kahului (780 Onehe‘e Avenue, across Maui Waena School) on Friday, May 23 (5 p.m. to 10 p.m.) and Saturday, May 24 (10 a.m. to 10 p.m.).
“We are proud to be able to share the Philippine culture through the 56th Annual Barrio Fiesta®,” says Arnel Alvarez, president of Binhi at Ani, the coordinating organization. “We need to continue to share our rich culture–whether it’s through food, entertainment, exhibits and contests so our youth will not forget their roots and the rest of Maui can also appreciate our Filipino culture.”
The Barrio Fiesta® was initiated by the Maui Filipino Community Council as the brainchild of Raquel “Nancy” Andres and executed by Agrifina “Aggie” Cabebe. It was first held on May 31, 1970 at the War Memorial grounds near the swimming pool and featured food booths, displays, a Miss Barrio Fiesta queen and other cultural presentations.
“It was Nancy’s idea to start the Barrio Fiesta®. She developed the concept and because she was new on Maui, she worked through some old-timers to get it done,” said the late Agrifina Cabebe, who would serve as the Barrio Fiesta®’s first chairperson with Greg Peros as her co-chairperson. “Manang Nancy wanted to spread the Filipino culture. She was the brains behind the Barrio Fiesta® and asked me to be part of it,” said Peros. “I was fresh out of the U.S. Army and I wanted to contribute to the Filipino community, which was at a crossroads with the influx of many immigrants from the Philippines. We wanted to share our rich culture with everyone, including the local Filipinos.”
“For truly Hawai‘i, as the melting pot, is composed of many cultures and Filipinos here in Maui should all be proud to give their contribution to the fullest extent,” Andres would say. At that time, there was an influx of recent immigrants from the Philippines.
Today, the need to share the Filipino culture with all of Maui’s residents remains true as Maui’s Filipino community continues to grow by leaps and bounds. According to the 2020 Census, Filipinos and part-Filipinos make up the second largest ethnic group in the State of Hawai‘i—twenty five percent.
“With the food, culture, pageantry, entertainment, contests and special events featured during the 56th Annual Barrio Fiesta®, there’s something for everyone,” Alvarez says.
Of course, traditional Filipino food and desserts will be offered such as balut, banana lumpia, bibingka, Brazo de Mercedes, cascaron, chicken adobo, chicken inasal, kutsinta, dinardaraan, empanada, fried crispy pork, halo halo, hopia, ice candy, lechon kawali with squash, marinated bangus, miki, pansit, pinakbet, pork adobo, pork and peas, pork barbecue, pork chicharon, pork inasal, puto, roast pork lechon belly plate, sago’t gulaman, shanghai lumpia, sisig, and vegetable lumpia.
And a few local favorites such as banana bread, chow fun, lau lau and shoyu chicken.
Food vendors include Binhi at Ani, Ilocos Surian Association of Maui, Magsingal Association of Maui, Maria Lanakila Filipino Catholic Church, Maui Filipino Community Council, Maui Revival Church and Ms. Maui Filipina.
Vying for the title of Miss Barrio Fiesta® are Sofiya Marey Dominique Quines Cartagena (daughter of Mark Anthony Cartagena and Whriz Debrey Cartagena); Jordyn-Leeah Pagaduan (daughter of Devin Lee Pagaduan and Cristina Leinora Llanes Pagaduan) and Kyrah Navarro Pagdilao (daughter of Richie Val Pagdilao and Charlyn Navarro). The 2025 Miss Barrio Fiesta® will be crowned on Friday evening at 7:30 p.m.
Philippine cultural entertainment will be provided by Broken Notes (Saturday at 6 p.m.), Maui Waena Students (Friday at 8 p.m.), Naragsak (Saturday at 7 p.m.), Madelyne Pascua and Keoni Manuel (Saturday at 8 p.m.) and Students of Aggie Cabebe (Friday at 8 p.m.).
Inside the Center, there will be a replica of a Bahay Kubo created by the Bahay Kubo Heritage Foundation. Cultural villages depicting several provinces/regions of the Philippines will also be featured: Cebu; Cordillera; Ilocos Norte; Ilocos Sur; Metro Manila; Mindanao; and Pangasinan. The best cultural village will receive a $500 prize. Cultural villages will be graded on culture, originality, presentation and interactivity.
Special Events include The Santa Cruzan depicting the finding of the Holy Cross by Queen Helena featuring past Miss Barrio Fiesta® queens (Friday at 6:30 p.m.); the Veterans Memorial Service (Saturday at 12 noon); and the Outstanding Housekeepers Awards (Saturday at 8:30 p.m.).
And a lechon demonstration sponsored by In Memory of Stanley and Rufina Magbual and coordinated by Bobby Sales will be held on Saturday.
Several contests with large prizes are scheduled:
• AnyKine Sisig Challenge® sponsored by Tante’s Island Cuisine (Saturday at 3:30 p.m. – $500 to the winner).
• Barrio Fiesta Balut Challenge® sponsored by Balai Pata by Joey Macadangdang (Saturday at 6:30 p.m. – $500 to the winner).
• The Barrio Fiesta Voice® sponsored by Friends of Yuki Lei Sugimura (Friday at 8:30 p.m. – $500 to the winner).
• Barrio Wear Showdown!® sponsored by Glenda Esteban (Saturday at 7:30 p.m. – $250 to the male winner; $250 to the female winner).
• Climb the Greased Pole!® sponsored by Law Offices of Alfredo Evangelista, A Limited Liability Law Company (Saturday at 1 p.m. – $500 to the winner).
• Do the Sungka!® sponsored by Johnstone Supply of Maui (Saturday at 10:30 a.m. – $500 to the winner).
• Eat Da Pansit® contest sponsored by Friends of Gil Keith-Agaran (Saturday at 3 p.m. – $500 to the winner).
• Kabataan Art Party® featuring Phil Sabado sponsored by In Memory of Nancy Andres and Aggie Cabebe (Saturday at 2 p.m. – $500 to the winner).
• Pabitin at the Barrio Fiesta!® sponsored by Friends of Justin Woodson (Friday at 6 p.m. and 8 p.m.; Saturday at 3 p.m. and 6 p.m.).
Zumba will close out both evenings at 9:30 p.m. with the Friday session led by Eva Arconado Mirzai while the Saturday session will be led by Gina Dela Cruz and Marilou Viloria Siores.
At 10 p.m. on Friday, there will be a drawing for inter-island travel sponsored by the Bahay Kubo Heritage Foundation, which will have other drawings throughout Friday and Saturday. On Saturday, there will be a drawing sponsored by Bayer U.S. Hawai‘i. Also on Saturday, there will be one drawing for a $500 gift card and one drawing for $1,000 travel to Las Vegas, with a bonus hotel stay at Resort World and a show, sponsored by Allstate Insurance / Brent Wylam, Agent. On Saturday, there will also be a drawing for travel to the Philippines sponsored by Philippine Airlines. For all drawings, the rules include no entry fee required, one entry per person, must be 18 years or older, entry must match government issued ID and must be present to win.
See box on back page for the program.
“We’re very excited to present the 56th Annual Barrio Fiesta®—the longest running Filipino fiesta in the United States,” says Nora Cabanilla-Takushi, the Event Chairperson. “We could not have continued this unmatched tradition without the support of our sponsors, advertisers, donors, vendors, entertainers, volunteers and the Miss Barrio Fiesta® contestants. There is definitely something for everyone at the Barrio Fiesta®–food, culture, contests and entertainment. It’s a terrific way to continue to share our culture with all of Maui and to be with old and new friends.”
Major sponsors include County of Maui/Office of Economic Development, Bayer U.S. Hawai‘i, ILWU, U.S. Renal Care, Philippine Airlines, Allstate/Brent Wylam, Bahay Kubo Heritage Foundation, Apo, Reck & Kusachi, Joey’s Kitchen and Jollibee.
Call (808) 242-8100 for more information or visit Facebook.com/BinhiatAniFilipinoCommunityCenter. #barriofiestamaui
Alfredo G. Evangelista is the Legal Counsel of Binhi at Ani and Co-chairperson of the Barrio Fiesta committee. He attended the first Barrio Fiesta in 1970 and in 1976, he and his then-high school sweetheart and now-wife Basilia performed the Bangko.