Free food, dance, fashion and music are on the program this Saturday as the Filipino Pride Day Cultural Festival returns for another year in Jacksonville. The event runs October 10 at 903 University Blvd. N, and admission is free. Organizers describe a day built around Filipino art, traditional food delicacies, fashion, family games, dances and OPM-inspired music performances from emerging and popular local Filipino American talents.
The festival is put on by We Filipino Inc., a nonprofit 501(c) organization, according to Visit Jacksonville. The group's current festival branding traces to 2019, but its roots run deeper: community records show We Filipino Inc. hosted local Filipino Pride Day events as early as 2009, and in 2015 the organization staged a celebration at Jacksonville's Riverside Arts Market featuring traditional performances including the Masskara and Pastores dances, according to FPDJAX.ORG. Leadership on the project includes co-founders Rosabel Hill and Angel Demdam Borja, with Hill having previously served as president of both We Filipino Inc. and the Jacksonville Filipino School, per a Jax Filipinos post on Facebook.
We Filipinos Inc. says its festival also raises funds for local charities, with the organization’s work focused on health and well-being, social and economic development, education and cultural awareness. The group describes its broader aim as uniting and empowering Filipino and Filipino American residents in Northeast Florida, giving the annual celebration a community-building and charitable role alongside its cultural program. The organization’s stated mission and programs extend beyond staging the festival.
A Celebration of Filipino American Culture
Jacksonville's Filipino Pride Day Cultural Festival celebrates Filipino American culture through a program of Filipino art, traditional food, fashion, family games, dances and OPM-inspired music.
The festival is scheduled at 903 University Blvd. N in Jacksonville.
Part of a Bigger October for Filipino Jacksonville
Filipino American History Month is observed in October, and the festival is held as part of its celebration.
October’s observance has roots in Filipino American-led historical organizing. The Filipino American National Historical Society says it began observing Filipino American History Month in 1991, choosing October to commemorate the first documented landing of Filipinos in what is now the continental United States, at Morro Bay, California, on Oct. 18, 1587. Congress later recognized the month through resolutions in 2009, 2010 and 2011. The month’s history and congressional recognition place Jacksonville’s festival within a national observance.
Jacksonville's calendar reflects that national framework in a big way this month. The city is also set to host the 16th Outstanding Filipino Awards gala on October 24 at the Jacksonville Center for the Performing Arts, an event that recognizes prominent Filipinos in leadership, arts and public service, according to a TOFA announcement on Facebook. Between the festival and the gala, Jacksonville is emerging as something of a statewide centerpiece for Filipino American History Month programming this October.
The national observance also has a 2026 theme: the Filipino American National Historical Society selected “Beyond the Margins: Centering Intersectional Filipino American Histories.” The theme frames this year’s October programming around histories that can be overlooked when Filipino American experiences are treated as a single story. Jacksonville’s festival brings that month of activity into a local setting through performances, food and other cultural programming. FANHS announced the 2026 theme as part of this year’s history-month observance.
The Festival's Cultural Program
We Filipino Inc. organizes the festival, which features Filipino art, traditional food, fashion, family games, dances and OPM-inspired music.
Saturday's festival is free and open to the public at 903 University Blvd. N in Jacksonville, Florida 32211. Organizers can be reached at (904) 614-9065 for more information.
