Filipinos Making Waves
Everyone seems to be having a heyday at the Harbourfront! Why not the Filipino-Canadian community? This 2006 innocent bubble of curiosity spurred endless daydreaming for Mon Torralba, a Philippine music icon in the ‘70s, and wife Teresa, a welfare worker turned entrepreneur. The bubble could have burst anytime, blown into oblivion. But fate might have meant it to be. The dare stuck. The twists and turns of events made it more challenging. And now in its 7th year, it could be said that the Filipinos Making Waves Festival (FMWF), the bubbling idea of Mon and Teresa, has weathered the test of time. Hard work. Determination. Passion. Love. Youth. Music, Art, Culture. A stage. An act. And that one moment in time. Looking back at the festival’s genesis and at what it has become, it was an evolution of a dream.
We chose Filipinos Making Waves as the appropriate title of the arts and heritage festival for three main reasons: first and foremost, to represent the outstanding achievements and exemplary artistic expressions of individual Filipino artists and groups invited to the Festival; secondly, the hand motion of a Wave reflects a friendly greeting and an ambassadorial welcome from a visiting royalty:composed, personal, and classy - a clear reflection of MWF as a world-class festival; lastly, the Philippines is an archipelago encompassing 7107 islands surrounded by water of the Pacific Ocean (and China Sea). The metaphors on water, tides and earth’s vital nature have great impact and definition in our community lives.Making Waves means, “to create a ripple and stand out”.In a word, it is pride about our community’s contributions to our society (both our ancestral homeland, the Philippines, and now our adopted country, Canada) and a warm welcome into the cultural life of the Filipino community.
We chose Filipinos Making Waves as the appropriate title of the arts and heritage festival for three main reasons: first and foremost, to represent the outstanding achievements and exemplary artistic expressions of individual Filipino artists and groups invited to the Festival; secondly, the hand motion of a Wave reflects a friendly greeting and an ambassadorial welcome from a visiting royalty:composed, personal, and classy - a clear reflection of MWF as a world-class festival; lastly, the Philippines is an archipelago encompassing 7107 islands surrounded by water of the Pacific Ocean (and China Sea). The metaphors on water, tides and earth’s vital nature have great impact and definition in our community lives.Making Waves means, “to create a ripple and stand out”.In a word, it is pride about our community’s contributions to our society (both our ancestral homeland, the Philippines, and now our adopted country, Canada) and a warm welcome into the cultural life of the Filipino community.