Fiesta Extravanganza back bigger and better to celebrate Filipino culture

By Lethbridge Herald on July 22, 2025.

Audience members were invited to dance with performers during the first day of the 2025 Fiesta Extravaganza at Henderson Lake Park Saturday.

Joe Manio
Lethbridge Herald
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The 2025 Lethbridge Fiesta Extravaganza (LFE), also known as the Festival of Smiles, returned for a bigger and better second year. 

Hosted by the Filipino Fiesta Society of Lethbridge (FIESLA), the city’s largest celebration of Filipino culture took place at Henderson Lake Park on Saturday and Sunday.

LFE showcased Filipino culture through song and dance by local performers, authentic Filipino cuisine and artisan crafts. New at this year’s festival were a pet fashion show, performances by Philippine entertainment icons, a livestream from boxer and former Philippine politician Manny Pacquiao. and a Honkers Pub Beer Garden. 

“The culture and tapestry of the Filipino community is what we want to share with the mainstream society,” said organizer and local Fiesta Extravaganza founder Gerry Saguin. “The Fiesta Extravaganza is now a Canada-wide and U.S.-wide Filipino summer festival that is staged from coast to coast. In May we opened up the first festival in Las Vegas.”

Like other cities in Alberta, the Lethbridge Filipino community is growing. According to 2016 census data, among those identifying as immigrants and arriving in Lethbridge between 2011 and 2016, one in four were born in the Philippines. 

“It’s probably even more now, because of different pathways like the student pathway, foreign worker program, and also migration from other provinces and cities to Lethbridge,” said Saguin.

Filipino culture is a blend of indigenous, Islamic, and Christian influences, shaped by centuries of trade, Spanish colonization and resistance. It reflects a rich tapestry of traditions, languages, and values, characterized by indigenous practices, colonial influences, culinary fusion, and family and community.

Officials who attended the festival included Calgary Philippine Consul General Emma R. Sarne, MP Rachel Thomas and Lethbridge Mayor Blaine Hyggen, who sported a “barong” (an embroidered long-sleeved formal dress shirt of the Philippines) for the opening ceremony on Saturday.

“I’m beaming with pride after attending the first Fiesta Extravaganza, and the second annual celebration is just as fantastic,” said Mayor Hyggen. “It’s a fiesta of diversity, and I’m honoured to be part of a community that wholeheartedly embraces multiculturalism.”

Filipino hospitality is deeply rooted in the tradition of welcoming guests as family, which is encapsulated in the phrase “Kain na” (pronounced “ka-in-na”) which means: “Let’s eat.” 

And there was plenty of authentic Filipino food available including lechon, a whole pig roasted on a spit, and a signature staple at almost every Filipino party or celebration.  

“Whether it’s a birthday party, graduation, a wedding or any celebration…you must have a lechon,” said Allan Jamarolin, owner of Ecko’s Lechon food truck. “It’s tradition and it’s just not a party without it.”

Filipinos have a significant presence in Alberta, with the first arrivals recorded in the 1960s, during a period known as the “Filipino Brain Drain.” Early immigrants were primarily skilled workers, such as teachers, nurses, and engineers seeking better opportunities in Canada, the U.S. and Australia.

The Filipino community in Alberta has grown substantially, particularly after changes in Canadian immigration laws and economic opportunities, and through programs like the Temporary Foreign Worker program. Today, Filipinos are one of the largest ethnic groups in both Calgary and Edmonton.