PhilFest 2020 Cancelled

For your safety, the Philippine Cultural Foundation, Inc. regrets to announce that PhilFest 2020 has been cancelled due to the recent global Covid-19 situation.

Please stay safe. In the meantime, please watch out for possible rescheduling before the end of 2020, depending on how the Covid-19 situation will turn out.

Current Covid-19 Situation

You must have heard of the latest news about the Corona Virus also known as the “Covid-19” in the United States. Here are updates as of today, March 10, 2020:

• There are now an estimated 93,000 cases globally.
• Governor DeSantis of Florida has issued a State of Emergency related to Covid-19 on March 1, 2020
• In a televised speech, Governor DeSantis warned all Floridians to stay away from crowds and events with diverse attendees
• On Thursday, March 5, news confirmed that out of 5 cases in Florida, 2 have already died.
• Between Wednesday, March 4 and Saturday, March 7,  278 new cases have been discovered and were being monitored giving the new total of 1018 potentially infected individuals
• As of March 8, the total number of deaths in the United States have reach 20 and still growing

PCFI Decides to Cancel PhilFest 2020

Due to all the above reasons, the Officers and Board Members of the Philippine Cultural Foundation, Inc.,  and all the PhilFest 2020 Committee chairs met on Sunday, March 8 to discuss everybody’s concern about holding our 25th PhilFest anniversary from April 3 to 5. The Foundation therefore regrets to inform the public that due to this pandemic Covid-19 situation, it was unanimously decided to cancel PhilFest this year for the safety of everyone. However, it was also suggested for the situation to be re-assessed within 90 days from March 8. Should the situation change for the better, re-scheduling PhilFest before the end of the year will be considered.

Reasons for Cancellation

Here are some of the many reasons why the PCFI Board and officers decided to cancel PhilFest:

• The festival’s main sponsors, ABS/CBN and TFC, have canceled Inigo Pascual’s coming to the festival
• Out-of-town performers have already cancelled coming to PhilFest
• If PCFI decides to hold the event, PhilFest may incur low attendance
• PhilFest vendors may lose money due to the low attendance
• PCFI expenses could be higher than revenue earned after the festival
• Contamination during PhilFest may be blamed to PCFI
• Canceling the event this early would give our international vendors coming from the Philippines as well as our local vendors, artists, and other out-of-town performers at least three more weeks to cancel their airline and hotel reservations and hopefully to get corresponding refunds
• Canceling the event this early will save PCFI money from preparation costs
• Cancelling the event may responsibly help prevent the spread of Covid-19 in the Tampa bay Area

Miss/Ms/Mrs PhilFest 2020

All candidates for Miss/Ms/Mrs PhilFest 2020 will be carried forward to the next PhilFest.

All scheduled PhilFest fundraising events for candidates will NOT be cancelled.  Collected donations and other solicitations remain credited to the candidates and their respective organizations for the next PhilFest

Ticket Returns and Refunds

All sold PhilFest Advance tickets and raffle tickets will not be refunded but can be used at the next PhilFest.

All unsold Advance Tickets and raffle tickets MUST be returned to the Bayanihan center no later than March 27, 2020 for proper recording by our Treasurer, Frank Butron. Any unsold ticket NOT returned by March 27, 2020 shall be considered sold and must be paid by the organization for credit to their organization for the next PhilFest.

All sold Advance Tickets and raffle tickets will be credited to the organizations candidate and will be carried over to the next PhilFest.

New color-coded and numbered tickets will be printed for the next PhilFest.

Please return and refund tickets during normal Bayanihan Arts and Events Center office hours: Tuesdays to Fridays, from 10 am to 5 pm., and Saturdays by appointment only.