Townsville Filipino Festival: ‘It just makes us feel at home’

Thousands of people celebrated at the Townsville Filipino Festival on Saturday. See the photos here.

Inday Lynch, Lovely Lemson and Elvie Gilbert at the 2023 Filipino Festival at Riverway. Picture: Evan Morgan

Thousands of people poured into the Filipino Festival in Townsville on Saturday.

Festival president Dr Jenny Panchal said 160 performers entertained some 3500 festival goers at Riverway.

The 14th edition of the festival, the event is held to celebrate Philippines Independence Day, which is June 12. The country declared independence from the Spanish in 1898.

There are about 300 Filipino families in Townsville, Dr Panchal said, and many had begun travelling again to see family, or relatives had visited Townsville, since international travel returned to normal after the Covid-19 pandemic.

Say cheese: Filipino Festival fires up Riverway

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Philippine Airlines even put up a round trip from Brisbane to Manila to be raffled at the festival, and at the last minute the airline upped the ante and donated a second ticket.

Dr Panchal put the big turnout down to the festival being a one-day event rather than two days and it had been in the past. The crowds made the most of singers, modern and traditional dancers, fireworks and food trucks.

“Our culture, we like gatherings and festivities. Every month there’s a festival somewhere and we just want to carry that festive feeling everywhere we go. It just makes us feel at home,” she said.

Originally published as Townsville Filipino Festival: ‘It just makes us feel at home’