Push Admin

Thousands pack Filipinotown for first-ever Baryo HiFi

Article (news)

Steve Angeles

ABS-CBN News

Beverly Boulevard is one of the busiest streets that connects many communities, but to kick off Asian Pacific American Heritage month, the Filipino community shut it down to turn it into Baryo HiFi.Uniquely Pinoy products, games, prizes and yes a karaoke contest hosted by Grammy-nominated Fil-Am rapper Guarded4000.About 10,000 people packed the streets of Historic Filipinotown for the first-ever Baryo HiFi.&quot;Its amazing, it&#x27;s a very, very good. This is a successful one,&quot; Elvira Chan of Dollar Hits said.&quot;It&#x27;s amazing, really great turnout for the community to come together, it&#x27;s amazing wooo!&quot; Deguia Family shared.&quot;This a very good thing to see just our culture ,our people, our artists coming up. It&#x27;s a really good scenery. I love it man,&quot; Fran Margiela, a digital creator said.<div><ivs-player data-ivs-key="e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603" data-ivs-spid="3001339" data-ivs-vid="3032515"></ivs-player></div><script src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/js/loader.js"></script>Originally conceptualized five years ago, this free event was planned by members of the HiFi Coalition with the mission to promote Historic Filipinotown as a cultural hub.After the original plan was shelved during the pandemic, the Coalition, along with big-time sponsors like JoKoy, stepped in to bring the festival to life with less than two months of planning, and MYX Global came aboard as a media partner.&quot;We really wanted to do something different and go really big and partner with the entire creative community. So we have everything from food art fashion entertainment, it&#x27;s all on one block,&quot; Stephanie Ramos, HIFi Coalition and Baryo HiFi producer, said.&quot;It’s really a big honor to be able to do something that is for our culture for our people and being able to do it on such a big scale, Beverly Blvd., in the heart of Historic Filipinotown is such a blessing.&quot;  Miles Canares, HIFi Coalitio and Baryo HiFi producer, added.&quot;We&#x27;re just continuing the work that others before us started in HiFi. So we&#x27;re glad to be this next generation that&#x27;s being a catalyst of things that are going to activate Historic Filipinotown,&quot; Jennifer Taylor of HiFi Coalition said.Artists such as Bay Area rapper, P-Lo, Filipino-Australian music sensation Rini, New Jersey’s Yeek, and many more turned this party into a global affair and celebration of culture.&quot;I feel happy and prideful because this is like thrown by the Filipino community in LA and I just love seeing everybody come together and celebrate our culture,&quot; Rini said. &quot;This really warms my heart, because a lot of this is very reminiscent of stuff I grew up with, family, seeing all my cousin, uncles aunties like a family party!&quot; Yeek said.  Long food lines may have made grabbing a quick bite a bit difficul but John Legaspi from San Francisco put on the ultimate fast food display in the lumpia-eating contest, winning $1,000 in postmaster credits by devouring 15 lumpia’s in a little over a minute.&quot;I had to really lock in, shove it down my mouth. It helped a lot with some liquid yeah awesome. Super fun,&quot; John Legaspi, lumpia champion, said.With plenty to digest, the first-ever Baryo HiFi proved to be the ultimate Asian Pacific American Heritage Month block party and hopes to be a new proudly Pinoy tradition, and the in the City of Angels.