by Marilie Bomediano
The 35th Grand Philippine Fiesta Kultura exploded with much excitement on 5 October, 2025 at the Fairfield Showground Prairiewood NSW. It delivered a truly uplifting celebration of Filipino culture and entertainment for Sydneysiders as well as international and interstate visitors.
This year the annual grand Fiesta was packed with much, much more. In addition to the regular pageants – the Little Miss Philippine Australia, the Miss Philippines-Australia, and Miss Charity Queen, the Fiesta brought the whole “Eat Bulaga” popular noontime show live to Sydney.
The Eat Bulaga ‘Dabarkads’ team thrilled the crowds at the Grand Philippine Fiesta with their show “Sugod Sydney,”
The inaugural offering was dubbed as “Sugod Sydney” with show’s hosts Vic Sotto & Joey de Leon and the entire Dabarcads EB team entertaining the audience with songs, dances, jokes and their brand of humour. The show fostered a sense of community and pride and inspired and uplifted the spirit of Filipinos in Sydney.
Philippine Consul Sheila Tario giving her welcome speech.
The VIP guests at the grand Fiesta opening.
The festival kicked off with the usual Filipino Community (FILCOM) parade around the grounds and followed by the introduction of VIP guests and dignitaries. Consul Sheila Tario of the Philippine Consulate Sydney did the honours of welcoming the crowd. And then it was time to sample the gastronomical delights around and enjoy the cultural performances.
Then it was time to marvel at the beauties of the pageants. The crowning glories included: Little Miss Philippines-Australia is Marika Zafirakopoulos, Little Miss Philippines-Australia Runner-Up is Sophia Goncalves, Little Miss Charity Queen is Amelia Padilla and Little Miss Charity Princess is Marika Zafirakopoulos.
The Beauty pageant winners.
And when night fell, the ladies came out in all their malong splendour to vie for the 2025 Beauty Pageant. Ella Evangelista was crowned Miss Philippines-Australia 2025 and Rachel Bernabe clinched the Charity Queen Australia 2025 title. (In above photo: Ed Alcordo (left) and Jason Cordi (right) handing out the prizes to the winners.)
Raffle winners included: First Prize ($10,000): Mylene Abella; Second Prize (PAL Ticket & $500): Medelyn Kelly; and 2nd PAL Ticket: Vivian Fernandez
Prizes were also given for the best decorated stall. Winner were: Panlasang Pinoy was the “Best Presented Stall”; Remitly for Best Creative and Innovative Stall; and JM Online for the Best Authentic Philippine Motif.
Ms. Marivic Ayap Flores, PASC President.
It was a day celebrating Filipino culture with fanfare, exciting beauty pageants, national dances and costumes, handicraft displays and food and goods stalls and camaraderie.
Philippine Australian Sports & Culture (PASC ) under the leadership of president Marivic Ayap Flores and her hard-working team deserve the recognition for not only organizing this year’s Fiesta but for achieving the rare feat of bringing the entire “Eat Bulaga” team to Sydney.
The Grand Philippine Fiesta Kultura, now on its 35th year, remains the longest running and still the largest Filipino cultural festival in Sydney. See you next year at the 36th event!
Photos courtesy of Bob Reyes.
October 2025
