Philippines Pavilion at Expo 2020 to hold a series of events in honor of the Philippines National Month this February, beginning with the unveiling of one of the world’s most wondrous landmarks found in the country
DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES – The Philippines invites all UAE residents and tourists, Expo visitors, and Filipinos from across the world to join the Philippines National Day on Feb 11 at Expo 2020 Dubai and to take part in its month-long festive celebrations.
Here are the back-to-back events that you shouldn’t miss in the run up to this momentous event.
Philippines National Day: February 11
On February 11, Expo 2020 Dubai will host the Philippines National Day with the grandest presentation of music, dance, and colorful performances. The day-long celebrations will witness a country business briefing, a Philippines-UAE bilateral meeting, Country Pavilion tours, as well as its official flag hoisting ceremony both at the Philippines Pavilion and the Al Wasl Plaza in honor of the country’s National Day attended by delegations of notable officials from the Philippines and the UAE.
The Philippines will also take its colorful parades and joyous dances in a superb and striking performance during the Philippines National Day Parade at the Avenue of Nations. Expo 2020 Dubai visitors will imbibe the fun-filled spirit of the Filipino ‘fiesta’ across back-to-back performances by skilled and talented Filipinos based across all parts of the UAE.
Join thousands of Filipinos wave the Philippine’s flag at the Jubilee Park at 6:30 PM as they culminate the day-long celebrations with an awe-inspiring cultural and musical presentation titled “Tides of our Soul,” or “Daluyong ng Diwa.” Ten (10) lucky audience may also win a trip to the Philippines at the onset of the grand show with free roundtrip tickets (Dubai-Manila-Dubai) via Philippine Airlines.
The schedule of events during the Philippines National Day is as follows:
| TIME | EVENT |
| 10:00 AM – 10:00 PM | Philippines National Day Food Fiesta Philippines Pavilion, Expo 2020 Dubai (open and free to the public) The Filipino Community can enjoy snacks and drinks from their favorite Filipino food brands and establishments |
| 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM | Country Business Briefing Kempinski Hotel, Dubai A trade and investments event among major government and business stakeholders, and international partners |
| 12:00 PM – 12:15 PM | Philippines National Day Flag Raising Philippines Pavilion, Expo 2020 Dubai A momentous event for the Philippines at Expo 2020 Dubai as the Philippine flag is raised and the national anthem is sung at Bangkóta |
| 12:45 PM | Philippines National Day Parade Avenue of Nations, Expo 2020 Dubai (open to the public) In the spirit of ‘bayanihan,’ talented Filipinos in the UAE are gathered by the Filipino Social Club to bring the Philippines’ cultural ‘fiesta’ at the Expo’s Avenue of Nations through a colorful parade. |
| 4:15 PM | Official Ceremony Al Wasl Plaza, Expo 2020 Dubai The Philippines National Day celebration at the Al Wasl Plaza attended by the highest officials from the UAE and the Philippines |
| 6:45 PM – 6:50 PM |
Philippine Flag Projection Al Wasl Plaza, Expo 2020 Dubai The Al Wasl Dome will project the Philippine Flag for approximately 5 minutes in celebration of the Philippines National Day. |
| 7:00 PM – 8:30 PM |
Philippines Gala Presentation “Tides of our Soul” or “Daluyong ng Diwa” Presented by the Philippines Organizing Committee Jubilee Park, Sustainability District, Expo 2020 Dubai (open to the public) The grandest presentation of music, song, and dance during the Philippines National Day at the Expo 2020 Dubai |
| 8:45 PM – 11:00 PM |
Philippines Night Hosted by the Philippines Department of Tourism and the Tourism Promotions Board Level 9, Club 2020, Al Wasl Area, Expo 2020 Dubai A dinner reception to celebrate the Philippines National Day, attended by delegates from the Philippines and the UAE, as well as international guests and partners of the Philippines @ Expo 2020 Dubai. |
Wonder Marker: February 7
The Puerto Princesa Underground River – an 8.2-kilometer natural subterranean river with limestone karst landscape – is one of the New Seven Wonders of Nature – and a new “Wonder Marker” is set to be unveiled this February 7, 3:00 PM, at the Philippines Pavilion. The unveiling activity honors and celebrates the Philippines’ distinct status of being home to one of nature’s “Wonder,” and distinguishes this destination as one of the world’s most beautiful landscapes and places to be.
New 7 Wonders President and Founder Bernard Weber will lead the simultaneous unveiling that will take place in the Philippines as well as six other New7Wonders of Nature countries: Brazil, Colombia, Peru, South Africa, Indonesia, Vietnam; and of New7Wonders of the World: Jordan and Mexico.
The event will be graced by the Philippine Ambassador to the UAE H.E. Hjayceelyn Quintana, Philippine Consul General to Dubai Honorable Renato Dueñas Jr., Philippines’ Department of Trade and Industry Assistant Secretary for the Trade Promotions Group and PH Expo 2020 Dubai Alternate Commissioner General Rosvi C. Gaetos, and New 7 Wonders Director Jean-Paul de la Fuente.
This momentous occasion will take place at 3:00 pm Dubai time at the Philippines’ Pavilion ‘Bangkóta’ and will be livestreamed at the Philippine Expo 2020 Dubai’s official social media page @phexpo2020dubai.
Bangkóta Talks, The Filipino as Austronesian: February 12
The National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) has invited noted Filipino historians Ambeth Ocampo and Xiao Chua, as well as Bangkóta curator Marian Pastor Roces to speak at the Mangrove Café, Philippines Pavilion this February 12 at 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM to share scientific data, expertise and insights to reinforce the pavilion overall message about Filipino emergence having taken place over thousands of years.
Titled “Bangkóta Talks: The Filipino as Austronesian”, all three speakers will take the opportunity presented by the 500th anniversary of the circumnavigation of the globe by the expedition of Ferdinand Magellan, which coincides with the Expo 2020 Dubai, to deepen the Philippine story all the way to cultural beginnings of Filipinos around 4,000 years ago.
This event is a collaboration between the Philippine Organising Committee for the Philippines’ participation in Expo 2020 Dubai, led by the Department of Trade and Industry, and the National Quincentennial Committee and the National Historical Commission of the Philippines.
Filipino professor Ambeth Ocampo has authored columns and books on Philippine history for many years. Xiao Chua is well-known for bringing diverse historical issues to popular media and other venues. Marian Pastor Roces’ most recent curatorial effort is the digital 21AM, a new museum for the Cultural Center of the Philippines.
About The Bangkóta – Philippines Pavilion in Expo 2020 Dubai
Bangkóta is the name and inspiration for the pavilion of the Philippines at the World Expo 2020, which will be held from October 1, 2021- March 31, 2022 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
The pavilion, organically shaped like the Bangkóta – the ancient term for “coral reef” in the language Tagalog – updates knowledge about the Philippines, an archipelagic nation that nourished a collective, sea-oriented culture for millennia.
By calling attention to the coral reef-like qualities of Filipinos – such as an inclination for hyper-connectivity – the pavilion offers clues into a people who can build vibrant communities anywhere and everywhere in the world.
Remaining interconnected with each other as Filipinos, even through massive diaspora, the Philippines’ global stage is held together digitally. In the past 4000 years, as their Austronesian ancestors spread throughout island Southeast Asia and then embarked across the Pacific, they were and still are connected by the oceans of the world.
The Philippines pavilion evokes this hardy, travelling people in the sustainability District of the Expo, poetically emphasizing cultural sustainability through the millennia. In a plot size of 3163.25 sqm, the pavilion presents contemporary expressions in architecture, art, and design that links the deep past with the future of connectivity for the Filipino.
It is conceptualised and actualised by Architect Royal Pineda of Budji+Royal Architecture+Design and independent curator Marian Pastor Roces, collaborating with unusual synchrony with Assistant Secretary Rosario Virginia Gaetos of the Department of Trade and Industry, who also serves as Alternate Commissioner General of the Philippine Organizing Committee (POC).
Bangkóta aligns with the theme of this forthcoming Expo 2020 – “Connecting Minds, Creating the Future” – with a riveting image of the Philippines and its people as truly global.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
