February 2011 marked 20 years of celebrating National Arts Month through a month-long fete, the Philippine International Arts Festival (PIAF). The festival’s impressive lineup of activities was designed to further Philippine art and the Filipino’s regard for local arts and culture. The celebration was organized by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts’ (NCCA) Subcommission for the Arts, headed by Commissioner Ricardo de Ungria. The subcommission comprises the seven arts, architecture, cinema, dance, literature, music, theater, and visual arts.

PIAF’s tagline “ani ng sining,” proved to be a harvest for the arts. Thousands of local artists and cultural workers gathered all over the Philippines for the biggest artistic celebration to date. Joining in the festivities are artists from Japan, Lithuania, Singapore, Cambodia, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Brunei Darussalam, Taiwan, and the United Arab Emirates. Celebrations were held all over the archipelago, with four foci, National Capital Region, Mindanao, Visayas, and Luzon.

PIAF launched a Grand Opening salvo last January 30, 2011 at the Rizal Park. Activities have been lined up from 1:00 to 9:00 p.m.  These mini-events were designed to provide a satisfying sampling of the harvest of the arts that PIAF has in store for the celebration.

From 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. workshops, mini-performances, and screenings was held in seven tents erected on the park grounds. Each tent was dedicated to one of the seven arts comprising the NCCA Subcommission on the Arts. Accomplished artists were present to conduct the workshops and hold mini-performances and screenings.

Higantes, marching bands, street dance groups, some of the artists and cultural workers participating in PIAF 2011, NCCA officials and committee members, and the NCCA’s Art Ambassador, Boy Abunda and Youth Ambassador, Dingdong Dantes parade around the Rizal Park Lagoon from 5:00 to 6:00pm.

The participating marching bands include AFP Band, Army-Navy Band, Joseon Band, Manila City Band, RTU Drum and Bugle Corps, MMDA Band, Quezon City Band, Letran Drum and Bugle Corps, and Lyceum of the Philippines Drum and Bugle Corps.

Street dance groups in the parade from Mandaluyong, Tondo, Laguna, Malabon, San Juan, and Makati joined as participants in Sayaw Pinoy, the NCCA Dance Committee’s celebration for PIAF 2011.

From 6:00 to 9:00 was the Grand Opening Program featured a dance extravaganza highlighting the activities of the seven arts for PIAF 2011.  The program ended with the singing of the PIAF official song, Ani ng Sining, an original composition by NCCA Committee on Music Head Joey Ayala, and the sounding of a thousand bamboo clappers to proclaim to the world that PIAF 2011 has begun.

The annual celebration of National Arts Month was signed into law by then President Corazon C. Aquino. For twenty years now, every February has been witness to this grand celebration of Filipino ingenuity, creativity, and flair.

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PIAF 2010

PIAF 2009

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