Second Stratford Filipino Festival bigger than first year

Rock on! Andrii and Alex entertained the crowd of the Stratford Filipino Festival by shredding on the electric guitar and performed “Master of Puppets” by Metallica during their set.

By: Emily Stewart

The second annual Stratford Filipino Festival had a variety of food, performers and lots of joy.

The Filipino-Canadian Community in Perth-Huron (FCC in PH) held the celebration of culture and community in Upper Queens Park on Aug. 29. Attendees ate Filipino foods like pancit, qwek qwek, barbeque chicken, pork and hotdog skewers, and halo-halo from a variety of southwestern Ontario vendors like Lola Liza Foods, London Asian Foods, Salu Salo and Stratford’s Dancing Lion Bubble Tea and Island Kravings. Guests also enjoyed performances by Tinkling Dance Group, Le Pinoy Band, JAD Band, Andrii and Alex, DJ Lakai, Pantomania Dance Group, Hot Mamas Dance Group and the Grace San Andres Duo.

“We just really wanted people to come and turn up and they did and it really fills my heart and I know it fills the rest of the Filipino-Canadian community … who has really put their heads together to make this positive so we're so happy we're so grateful for the support,” said Meryl Ochoa, FCC in PH officer. "We keep seeing our Filipino community grow and it's really not just us Filipinos but the people that have become friends and family to us and they're part of our community, so it's really important for us to have an anchor of celebrating our culture, the things that we miss from back home – I say in quotes but obviously they’re available to us here. It's also nice to make these relationships with all these wonderful vendors so even for just one day of the year in Stratford for us to come together and have fun and celebrate.”

Compared to the first Stratford Filipino Festival held in 2025, the second annual festival was held at a larger green space than the Falstaff Secondary School grounds and had more performers.

"That was another success being able to connect with all these talented people and they're super willing to come to Stratford, some of them are from places like London and Guelph I believe, Woodstock, and so it's been really such a pleasure to host them and some of them for the first time are coming to Stratford so it's nice to be able to welcome them and have them see Stratford,” Ochoa said.

The festival also had a yard sale, with proceeds supporting FCC in PH programing such as the annual Filipino Festival, and karaoke.

For more information online, visit the Filipino-Canadian Community in Perth-Huron Instagram and Facebook pages.