A pioneering event is in the works in the Filipino Canadian community, one that draws inspi­ration from spring. Spring is a time of renewal, a reawakening, the birth of new life. Just as spring for many symbol­izes new projects and new ideas, Vancouver Pinoy Spring Fest will herald a year full of festivals. Vancouver Pinoy Spring Fest is the festival to start all festivals in 2014. The Vancouver Pinoy Spring Fest is a collaboration among the ReyFort Media Group, TV5 Inter­national, and Phinma Properties.

The festival will be held at the Pacific National Exhibition at The Forum (2901 East Hastings Street) on May 3, 2014. The event will host the first ever Canada-wide grand finals of the Pinoy New Talent Idol contest, popularly known as PNT Idol. It is a project of the ReyFort Media Group, the multimedia company behind the Philippine Asian News Today and Philippine Showbiz Today papers, and TV programs EveRIAthing and Balitang Van­couver. In addition to homegrown B.C. finalists, PNT Idol grand contes­tants will come from the Yukon, Edmonton, Calgary, Toronto, and Winnipeg.

Several community associa­tions have confirmed their partici­pation in Vancouver Pinoy Spring Fest, bringing with them unique Philippine festival formats like the Ati-Atihan, Sinulog, and Dinag­yang. Also featured in the festival are productions from cultural master Tonette Gatus, and the multi- awarded Praise Team. Seniors in the community will have a special role in the festival. They will be showcasing their talents in different musical and dance presentations. Sports will likewise be included, with at least 40 basketball teams of youth players competing for prizes.

Some of the popular and re­spected figures from the Philip­pine showbiz scene will be arriv­ing in Canadian shores to provide entertainment for Filipinos in Van­couver. These personalities are connected with TV5, the fastest-growing broadcast company in the Philippines. TV5 international channels have been introduced late last year in Canada through different service providers such as Shaw, Rogers, Bell, NextTV, Tur­boTV and Juan TV.

Kapatid TV5 is a 24-hour gen­eral entertainment Tagalog lan­guage channel that provides dif­ferent programs including drama, fantasy, comedy, variety, game, gag shows, reality, and news and current affairs. Sharon Cuneta, Derek Ramsay, Aga Muhlach, Ogie Alcasid and many more headline the shows.

AksyonTV International is a 24- hour Tagalog language channel dedicated in bringing the latest in News and Philippine Sports. Aksyon TV International is home of the Philippine Basketball Asso­ciation (PBA) and other news pro­grams such as Aksyon, T3 by the Tulfo brothers and many more.

The festival’s success also rests with the support of Phinma Prop­erties, a medium- and high-rise housing developer for the afford­able market in and around Metro Manikla.
Phinma, which is led by its president and CEO Willie Uy, will provide the one AREZZO Places condo in Pasig City worth P1.5 million to the first winner of the Canada-wide PNT Idol Open Cat­egory contest.

As a complete festival experi­ence, Vancouver Pinoy Spring Fest includes a food fair, bazaar, and trade shows. For inquiries: 604-588-6397; 604-537-1654; 778- 995-1435.