11th Annual Pistahan
Parade and Festival 2004

August 14 to 15, 2004
10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Pistahan Festival
Yerba Buena Gardens
701 Mission (between 3rd and 4th Streets)
San Francisco, California

August 15
12 noon
Pistahan Parade
Market Street
(From Civic Center
to Yerba Buena Gardens)
San Francisco, California

NOW on its 11th year, the famed Pistahan Parade will roll out in the streets of San Francisco on August 15 with some 15 beautifully decorated floats and other cultural feasts to amaze and amuse residents and visitors alike. "Only in San Francisco" is the theme of the city and county of San Francisco and the local convention and visitors' bureau campaign that was recently launched to encourage tourists to come and enjoy its flamboyant brand of cultural diversity.

There will be guest celebrities from ABS-CBN teleserye talents, line dancing, folk dance contingents, martial arts demonstrations, motorcades of Who's Who in the Bay Area Filipino community and even clowns and performers from Ringling Bros.

Pistahan offers a superb parade and festival worth going to and what's more, it is free to the public -- Filipinos and just about everybody else -- to enjoy. The 11th annual Pistahan festival runs from August 12 to 15, culminating in a big Parade on Sunday, August 15, beginning at 12 noon.

The Parade will start City Hall on Grove and Larkin Streets at the Civic Center and go down to Market Street to South of Market district where there is a sizeable Filipino community presence with business, cultural and nonprofit services agencies. The end point is Yerba Buena Gardens, the crown jewel of San Francisco's arts mecca and the home of the Filipino American Arts Exposition and its Pistahan Parade and Festival. Organizers are building the Parade from the ground up as the Filipino counterpart of the great parades of the City like the Chinese New Parade, Cinco de Mayo, Carnaval, St. Patrick's Parade and the Pride Parade.

In addition, a two-day, tour-de-force Pistahan, a multi-arts outdoor fair will showcase Filipino culture with food, crafts, entertainment, exhibits and events of a special end-of-summer festival weekend. August 9 and 10 at Yerba Buena Gardens. The outdoor cultural extravaganza will be open to the public from 11 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. for both days. The parade and festival events are supported by Southwest Airlines, Grants for the Arts, Yerba Buena Arts and Events, SF Marriott Hotel, Hotel Palomar, Philippine Women's University, among others. Bay Area-based Filipino media like Philippine News, ABC-CBN International/The Filipino Channel, Filipino Guardian, Patok Pinoy, Manila Bulletin USA, Filipinas Magazine, together Radio Disney, are in full support of Pistahan's efforts to draw local and out of town visitors to line up the streets and watch the parade.

Main Activities:

Pistahan Parade
Sunday, August 15
12 noon to 2 p.m.

Parade begins at Grove and Larkin Streets, in front of Bill Graham Auditorium, Civic Center Plaza and proceeds on Market Street to Yerba Buena Gardens at Mission and 4th Streets on to Yerba Buena Gardens

Pistahan Festival
Saturday and Sunday
August 14 and 15
10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Other Events:

Pamana Arts Legacy Awards (Ticketed Event)
Thursday, August 12
Herbst Theatre
401Van Ness Avenue
San Francisco
Tickets: 25 dollars advance, 30 dollars at the door

Sine! Sine! (Ticketed Event)
Retrospective of Films by Gil Portes (North American premiere)
4Star Theatre, 2200 Clement Street
San Francisco
Screening Times:
Friday, August 12 -- "Homecoming" 8 p.m.
Saturday, Aug. 13 -- "Markova" 4 p.m., "Homecoming," 8 p.m.
Sunday, August 15 -- "In the Bosom of the Enemy"

Art Lane (Free Admission)

Indoors:
"Carriers of Tradition: The Backpacks of Northern Philippines"
The MOMA Room, Hotel Palomar
12 Fourth Street, San Francisco

Art Exchange: Philippine and US-based artists
City College of San Francisco downtown campus (TBA)
Mission at 4th Street, San Francisco

Outdoors:
Art Lane at Pistahan
Yerba Buena Gardens, Mission between 3rd & 4th Streets
August 14-15

Events and activities are subject to change. For more information about other related events, please call +415 979 9677 or e-mail faae@aol.com. The official website is www.pistahan.net.

RELATED SITE:
Pistahan 2004