For over 20 years, San Francisco's Filipino-American community has been gathering in Yerba Buena Gardens on the second weekend of August to celebrate and share its heritage and culture. The annual Pistahan Parade and Festival returns for its 22nd annual event this weekend, so we caught up with Al Perez, president of the Filipino-American Arts Exposition, to learn more about the evolution of the celebration and what attendees can look forward to this year.

First, some history. "The Pistahan Festival was the very first outdoor event held at the Yerba Buena Gardens," Perez said, noting that the neighborhood that the Redevelopment Agency chose to construct the Moscone Center, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts and Yerba Buena Gardens in the '80s and early '90s "was and still is very much a Filipino-American neighborhood," he explained. "When the Redevelopment Agency came, a lot of Filipinos in the low-income housing there got displaced to make room."

Once construction was complete a few years later, a festival was held in the new Yerba Buena Gardens "to honor the Filipino community that used to be there ... It's almost like reclaiming our land," Perez said with a chuckle.

Over the years, the Pistahan Festival has evolved from being "really grassroots" to a more formalized organization with a slew of sponsors and exhibitors, Perez said. However, it's still 100 percent volunteer-driven. 

The 2015 planning committee. (Photo: Pistahan Parade and Festival/Facebook)

The 30 to 40 volunteers on the organizing committee aim to make the festival a cultural experience, "instead of people just eating and watching entertainment," he added. "We really want to try really hard to create interactive educational experiences for people to discover Filipino culture."

This year's theme is 'Home Away From Home', underscoring the organizing committees' efforts to make the Pistahan Festival a travel destination. "If you can't go all the way to the Philippines, this is the next best thing," Perez said. The festival has attracted visitors from all over the West Coast, and the planning committee is now trying to appeal to East Coast tourists.

The festivities begin at 10am Saturday, with an opening ceremony at Civic Center Plaza. A parade of colorful floats will then march to Yerba Buena Gardens, via Market and Fourth streets. This year the organizers invited Filipino high school and college students to lead the procession; with their color-coded costumes, they'll create a human Philippines flag "to represent the next generation of Filipino leaders," Perez said.

To "represent unity in the Filipino community," about 100 folk dancers from four to five local groups will perform together along the route.

At the festival itself in Yerba Buena Gardens, attendees will find seven pavilions where they can learn about and experience Filipino culture. For example, the organizers have partnered with the Bataan Legacy Project on a Heritage Pavilion, which will showcase Filipino soldiers' involvement in WWII and tell the story of the Bataan Death March. 

The Culinary Pavillon will feature cooking demos and panels with noted Filipino chefs, a sinigang cook-off and a purple ice cream blind tasting challenge. There will also be a Sports Pavillon, hosting a boxing tournament and martial arts demonstrations.

Live performances will be held on two stages, with celebrities flying in from as far as Manila. San Fran6, the local a cappella group that appeared on NBC's The Sing-Off last year, will also take the stage on Sunday. 

For the first time ever, the Pistahan Festival will also serve alcohol. The beer garden will serve beer from San Miguel, the Philippines' first and largest brewery; lambanog, a distilled coconut spirit that Perez says is to the Philippines what vodka is to Russia or tequila is to Mexico; and tastings from three wineries owned and operated by Filipino women.

Perez, who has been volunteering as a festival organizer for more than 10 years, said he's motivated by his niece and nephew. "The want to be proud to be Pinoy, to be Filipino, but there aren't a lot of outlets for them to learn about our culture. There's not a lot of positive images of Filipino culture out there. So we try to make this, [to do] that."

The festival runs Saturday and Sunday, 11am-5pm. More information on the weekend's activities can be found on the festival's website and Facebook event page.