The 4th ASEAN Festival of the Arts

March marks the celebration of various festivals all over the Philippine Islands. During this month, which has also been hailed as National Women’s Month, we celebrate the Pintados De Pasi Festival in Iloilo, the Strawberry Festival in Benguet, the Lugahait Festival in Misamis Oriental, the Pasaway in Negros Occidental and the Silyug Festival in Mindoro — to merely cite a few. Therefore, we think it is only timely that March will also be the month for the Philippines to host the Fourth Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Festival of the Arts (AFA), the ASEAN Ministers for Culture and Arts (AMCA) Meeting and the 7th Senior Officials for Culture and Arts (SOMCA) Meeting; to be held from the 22nd until the 27th, at the Clark Education Ampitheater, Nayong Pilipino and Holiday Inn Clark Resort, Clark Field Pampanga for the UNESCO International Theatre Institute’s World Theatre Week.

Through the efforts of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, led by Chairman Vilma Labrador and Executive Director Cecile Guidote Alvarez, the ASEAN Festival of the Arts is set to highlight the creativity and foster an exchange of ideas among the best artists from ASEAN countries. We are told that the opening ceremony will feature a grand musical theatre spectacle performed by the best talents from the province of Pampanga. The famous kneeling carabaos of Pulilan, Bulacan will also be an added attraction — reminiscent of the horses that were majestically presented in opening ceremonies of the 11th Asia Arts Festival held in Inner Mongolia, China.

During the AFA, each ASEAN member is tasked to showcase their country’s finest works in any chosen field of the arts. For its part, the Philippines will be exhibiting award-winning music and dance groups, along with ballet and Arnis performances, and original Theatrical pieces such as Baler sa Puso Ko; a zarzuela that depicts the wealth of heritage found in the 400-year history of the town of Baler.

Performances for the AFA will be held at the Clark Education City Amphitheater and in the Convento Theatre at Nayong Pilipino sa Clark Expo (NPCE). Film showings, workshops, poetry readings and book launches will also simultaneously take place in NPCE’s dormitory, arcadia and library. Furthermore, there will also be booths showcasing creative industries of the Filipino indigenous people, made possible by the joint efforts of the Department of Trade and Industry - Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions, and the Department of Agriculture Fiber Industry Development Authority - Aphada.

These events are being organized through an interagency committee which includes the Department of Foreign Affairs led by Secretary Alberto Romulo, the ASEAN office led by ASEAN COCI Asec. Vicky Bataclan, and the Department of Social Welfare and Development headed by Sec. Celia Capadocia Yangco.

More than 1,500 artists and students from Pampanga, together with the local government and the DepEd, CHED and TESDA, are involved in this demonstration of the wealth of cultural diversity harnessed in the UN Millennium Development Goals.

We see these events as a perfect medium to celebrate and promote regional identity and diversity, whilst enhancing eco-cultural heritage, tourism, and strengthening ties among the members of the ASEAN. Through events such as the AFA, we may be able to finally project the Philippines as the Cultural Gateway to the Southeast Asian region.