Celebrate Filipino culture at Pinoy Pride festival this weekend

This weekend’s Pinoy Pride Celebration offer a taste of the Philippines to Southern Nevadans who aren’t of Filipino descent and who never have visited there.

But it will also offer younger Southern Nevadans who are of Filipino descent the chance to learn about a place they’ve never been to, either.

That’s important, says Liza Ochiai, an organizer of the festival, because a goal of the annual celebration is to unite different generations of Filipinos and teach them about our culture.

“I’m a second-generation immigrant,” she says. “I moved here when I was 15. Now I have kids, and I have kids who have never been to the Philippines.”

Of course, the Pinoy Pride Celebration, which runs from Friday through Sunday at the Downtown Las Vegas Events Center, 200 S. Third St., also will offer the music, dance, food and culture of the Philippines to anybody who stops by.

The festival runs from 11 a.m. to midnight Friday, from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday and from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday. Admission is $10 for adults and $8 for children, military and seniors on Friday; $15 for adults, $12 for military and seniors, and $8 for children on Saturday; and free for everybody on Sunday in celebration of Easter.

Guests also have the option of buying VIP tickets for Saturday’s “One Magical Night” show for $99 for seats in the first three rows and $75 for reserved seats. Both VIP categories include a photo op. For more information, visit www.pinoypridelv.com.

Ochiai says this year’s event is the fourth annual Pinoy Pride Celebration. She estimates that people who aren’t of Filipino descent have made up about 80 percent of crowds in previous years, and says last year’s event drew about 12,000 attendees.

“Our goal, of course, is to feature culture, performances and dance from different regions of the Philippines,” she says. “It’s to educate everyone about our food and our culture.”

Music and dance were a big part of previous years’ celebrations, and that trend continues this year with a slate of entertainers that, Ochiai says, includes some of “the hottest Filipino artists from the Philippines.”

“Nowadays, kids are sophisticated, so we try to bring in the top acts,” she says.

This year’s headliners include Rebel Souljahz, a groundbreaking Filipino reggae group from Hawaii.

“One of the biggest Filipino populations is in Hawaii, ” Ochiai says, “and a lot of them have moved to Las Vegas as well.”

Rebel Souljahz is scheduled to perform Friday.

Friday’s entertainment calendar also includes New Age Tribe, ST1, Remy Ione and Janoe Kalawa, HI Grooves, Bengali Arkangel, Natalie Kalei, Junior Rupley and Rock [HI] Sound System.

Saturday’s entertainment offerings will include “One Magical Night,” which Ochiai describes as a “Filipino-based variety show” featuring Daniel Padilla, Kathryn Bernardo, Kim Chiu, Xian Lim, Marcelino Pomoy and John Sweets Lapuz.

Saturday also will feature a Festival Queens Parade and performances and appearances by Prodigy Dance Crew, Reinalyn Lapena, Kids Fusion, Tinikling by Apaa, Esmeralda Padilla Gould, Gideon Agaton, De Dios Sisters, Rau Tamanui, Maharlika, Bibaak, Megan Williams, Sophia Ramos, Jazzy Cadiente, Richard Aguila, Hip Hop by Apaa, Pera o Bayong, Prodigy, Elmer Abapo and Zally Pooza.

Sunday’s entertainment roster will include a traditional Santacruzan parade, which will feature participants wearing elaborate costumes that represent the Virgin Mary. Also scheduled for Sunday are Venz and Johanne, Sache Erickson, Las Vegas Fil-Am SDA Choir, Catherine Davila, Hip Hop by Apaa, Jazzy Cadiente, Jamie Lynn Cutler, Esmeralda Padilla Gould, Gideon Agaton, Richard Aguila, Danielle Abella, Tagalog Medley by R&R, Haka by Appa, Kids Fusion, Elmer Abapo, Prodigy Dance Crew, Rey Kilay and Vivorah and Zally Pooza.

In honor of Easter, Sunday also will see what Ochiai calls a Pinoy Pride Celebration first: an Easter egg hunt for kids that will begin about 2 p.m.

The festival also will include carnival rides and midway games, merchandise for purchase and Filipino street food, Ochiai says, such as “chicken feet, pig’s ear and barbecued pork for the less adventurous.”

The celebration is family-friendly and something most guests will find to be decidedly out of the ordinary, Ochiai says.

“It’s for all ages. It’s fun. It’s something different,” she says.

“If you’re wanting to be a little different, a little more adventuresome, you can learn about another culture without spending all that money traveling.”

Contact reporter John Przybys at jprzybys@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0280. Follow on Twitter: @JJPrzybys