Music could be heard pumping from outside the gym at St. Mary’s Catholic church on Saturday to celebrate Flores de Mayo. It’s one of the most prominent holidays in the Philippines.
The actual date of gatherings depends on the city or town in the Philippines, but it’s almost always held in May. There are some things in common regardless of location though – massive parties, feasts, and parades.
The celebration in Kodiak was held on what’s called the Santacruzan, or what’s usually the last day of festivities commemorating the search for the Holy Cross.
Mark Anthony Vizcocho is the president of the Kodiak Filipino American Association, which organized the event.
“I’m just glad that everything all worked out,” he said. “Everything just fell into place and everybody’s just working as a team.”
About a quarter of Kodiak’s population is Filipino. And hundreds of people came together to share food like menudo, which is a pork dish with potatoes and vegetables in a tomato sauce. There was also chicken adobo, rice, and of course, pancit, which is a rice noodle dish with chicken and vegetables.
One of the high-profile attendees at the weekend’s party was Kodiak Island Borough Mayor Scott Arndt.
“It’s a pleasure to be part of it and I enjoyed myself tonight,” he said.
Arndt said it was his first time at a celebration for Flores de Mayo.
There were also dance performances from the FilAm board officers, the association’s youth board, and some people sang karaoke, which is pretty common at Filipino get-togethers.
Some attendees even wore traditional Filipino formalwear like Barong taglogs, which look like dress shirts and are usually worn by men, and Filipinianas, which are worn by women and can look like a short jacket or a shawl. Both are traditionally made with pineapple fibers, are white or off white, and semi-transparent with patterns near the collar and chest.
Vizcocho said the association also fundraised over $12,000 leading up to the event.
“I was like ‘woah,’” Vizcocho recalled. “When we were doing the last canvassing, we had to – if I’m not mistaken – we did a quadruple check. I could be wrong, but that’s the first time that we raised that much in funds.”
It’s a lot of money for a small association like Kodiak FilAm. Some of the group’s meetings only have about a dozen attendees, including the all-volunteer board.
Vizcocho said he wants most of those funds to go towards scholarships. The association only gets between 1 and 5 applicants a year and usually gives about $500 per student. But given the fundraising success, he said he hopes to double that.
For now, FilAm is planning to decorate a float for Kodiak’s Crabfest over Memorial Day Weekend to continue the Flores de Mayo celebration.
Editor's note: This post was updated to say about a quarter of Kodiak's population is Filipino. A previous version of this article claimed that it was about half.
