When Paul Alimbuyao was growing up, fiesta fun was a bumpy, winding four- to six-hour ride from his mountainous hometown of Baguio in northern Luzon to neighboring provinces.

He looked forward to the spring, when his parents took him and his little brother (the two youngest of 11 children) to Cervantes in Ilocos Sur province or Lingayen in Pangasinan to visit family and attend festivals.

“Back then Baguio didn’t have any fiestas, and I didn’t mind the long trips even though the bus wasn’t air-conditioned and I sometimes had to stand most of the way because it was packed,” Alimbuyao said. “I was excited to travel, see relatives and enjoy parades, entertainment, fireworks and delicious food at the fiestas. One of my favorites was deep-fried bread covered with sugar and coconut milk.”

Alimbuyao is chairman of this year’s 24th annual Filipino Fiesta, the state’s biggest showcase of Filipino culture. In 1992 Eddie Flores Jr., founder of L&L Hawaiian Barbecue, started the celebration to help raise awareness and funds to build the Filipino Community Center in Waipahu.

The center’s mission is to provide “social, economic and education services and to promote and perpetuate Filipino culture and customs in Hawaii.” It has organized the Filipino Fiesta, also known as Flores de Mayo (see sidebar), since it opened in 2002, and L&L has been the title sponsor since 2013. To learn more about the center, visit filcom.org.

Themed “Sama-Sama sa Saya” (“happy together”), the 2016 fiesta will begin with a parade of floats, marching bands and units representing Filipino civic, cultural and community organizations. Eighty-three-year-old Maggie Domingo, president of the Philippine Cultural Foundation of Hawaii, will be the parade’s first female marshal.

“Auntie Maggie,” a beloved and respected elder, has hosted a live Filipino news and music show on various Honolulu radio stations for 58 years. KNDI 1270 AM now broadcasts “Saniata Hour” on Saturdays from 4:30 to 6 a.m. and Sundays from 5 to 7 a.m.

The parade will end at Kapiolani Park where the festivities will continue until late afternoon. Don’t miss the sari-sari (variety) store, a familiar sight in the Philippines.

“Some people live far from big stores and markets,” Alimbuyao said. “Sari-sari are small shops in their community where they can buy basic necessities to tide them over between major shopping trips. Many owners set up their sari-sari store in their house.”

Created for the Filipino Fiesta will be a typical sari- sari store, complete with displays of toiletries and canned goods. Visitors can buy snacks such as chicharron (fried pork rinds), pastillas de leche (milk candy) and chichacorn (seasoned roasted or fried corn kernels),

Booths nearby will exhibit traditional arts, crafts and clothing, including three types of gangsa gongs, which produce beautiful harmonies when played simultaneously; barong, embroidered long-sleeve shirts that men wear on formal occasions; and kimona, embroidered blouses paired with matching patadyong (wraparound skirts).

Come hungry because food will be another highlight. Among the perennial top sellers are pancit, noodles mixed with sliced pork and vegetables; sweet and savory lumpia, the Filipino version of spring rolls; halo-halo, a refreshing concoction of shave ice, evaporated milk, jello, fruit, sweet beans and ice cream; and lechon, roasted pig (some say the crisp skin is the best part of this dish). Only the most adventurous foodies will likely try balut, a boiled or steamed duck or chicken embryo that’s eaten right from the shell.

Tinikling, a folk dance, always delights spectators. It means “tikling-like,” referring to the grace, agility and speed of the tikling, or rail species of birds. Nimble dancers step over and between bamboo poles that two friends hit together, slide and thump on the ground at an increasingly faster pace.

As the story goes, tinikling originated when the Spanish ruled the Philippines from 1571 to 1898. During those three centuries, many Filipinos labored on sugar, tobacco and abaca (a species of banana) plantations that were under Spanish control.

Punishment awaited those whose work was deemed subpar: They had to stand between bamboo poles covered with thorns. As the poles were moved closer and closer to their feet, they had to jump in and out of them to avoid being cut. Supposedly, that inspired the quick movements of the tinikling dance.

The entertainment lineup also features celebrities from the Philippines, including actor and singer Sam Milby; Janine Marie Raymundo Tugonon, first runner-up in the 2012 Miss Universe pageant; and Hawaii-born Martin Nievera, actor, singer, songwriter and host of the popular musical variety show “ASAP.”

Kamaaina are looking forward to a performance by Jordan Segundo, KITV weekend reporter and weather anchor. During the second season of the long-running TV show “American Idol,” he was the first Hawaii resident to rank among the top 32 contenders.

“The Filipino Fiesta is fun, exciting and you’ll learn something, too,” Alimbuyao said. “Even better, there’s no need for a passport or plane ticket. For one day we bring the best of the Philippines to you!”

FLORES DE MAYO

A Catholic festival called Flores de Mayo (Spanish for “flowers of May”), honoring the Virgin Mary, takes place throughout May in the Philippines. Devotees offer flowers and prayers to her daily in chapels followed by luglugan (presentations) by town residents, including songs and dances by children. Attendees bring food for all to share.

Flores de Mayo concludes with the Santacruzan, a pageant commemorating how Saint Helena (Elena), mother of Constantine the Great, found the cross where Christ died at Calvary, outside Jerusalem. As the story goes, 300 years after the crucifixion, Elena, then 75 years old, went to Calvary to look for Christ’s cross.

Digging there, she found three crosses. She directed a sick servant to lie on each cross, and when he regained his health after rising from one of them, Elena identified it as Christ’s cross.

Santacruzan features 30 biblical and historical characters represented by females of various ages, from young girls to elders, in costume. They include Reyna Esperanza (Queen Hope), carrying an anchor; Reyna Caridad (Queen Charity), clasping a red-colored heart; and Reyna Elena (Queen Elena), holding a crucifix.

Cheryl Chee Tsutsumi is a Honolulu-based freelance writer whose travel features for the Star-Advertiser have won several Society of American Travel Writers awards.