The aroma of grilled, stewed and fried foods and the sound of music and laughter filled the air Sunday along Southeast Stark Street as hundreds gathered for the inaugural Kulinarya Festival, marking the celebration of Filipino food month.
Organizers with the Filipino American Association of Portland and Vicinity said close to 1,000 people registered for the free event at the group’s headquarters, 8917 S.E. Stark St. The festival, which ran from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., featured live music, cultural performances and more than a dozen food and retail vendors.
Lorelei Hosmillo, the organization’s vice president and program manager, said the event grew out of last year’s smaller cooking classes, part of the association’s Filipino Cultural Immersion Program – a multimonth series running from April through July that includes culinary arts, language and storytelling, as well as music and arts.
“This was a natural evolution,” she said. “The cooking classes were really successful last year, and we wanted to open that experience up to the broader community.”…