Guide To The Festival Of Philippine Arts And Culture

Filipino food, music, dance and culture will be celebrated all weekend at the annual Festival of Philippine Arts and Culture, better known as FPAC. The festival runs Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 11-12 at San Pedro's picturesque Point Fermin Park. Tickets to the event are $7 and children under 5 are free.Never been to FPAC? Then you'll want to print out this guide.

Music

FPAC features two stages -- the main stage and the Generations Stage. Filipino-American rapper Bambu always gets the crowd going on Sunday from the main stage. Deejays, up and coming singers and spoken word artists will perform on the Generations Stage.

Dance

Both traditional Filipino folk dances and hip hop and R&B dancers will entertain the crowds at FPAC. Saturday's lineup includes the Sampaguita Youth Dance Troupe, while PAC Modern and KABA Modern, the dance group that nearly made it to the finals of MTV's "America's Best Dance Crew," will perform on Sunday.

Art, Workshops and Literature

The festival's Pilipino American Network, or PAN, Pavilion will showcase Filipino art, prints and books and play host to signings and workshops. Workshops include spoken work and how to write Baybayin, the native writing of the Philippines. Authors like Cecilia Brainard, who wrote "Growing Up Filipino," will be on hand to sign copies of her book. The Pavilion will also include a mural project led by the Beatrock Artists Kollective, which will be dedicated to the theme "Katibukan: One heartbeat. Shared Being."

Food

Besides the food vendors that will offer a variety of festival fare, L.A.'s up and coming gourmet Filipino food trucks will be joining the party. Manila Machine, run by bloggers Marvin Gapultos and Nassia Johnson, will be on hand, along with Tapa Boy Food Truck and White Rabbit, a Filipino Fusion Truck.