Philippine Fiesta USAPeople's Ball · Fiesta · Pasko · In America
Who We Are

Keeping Filipino America Together, One Gathering at a Time

Philippine Fiesta USA is a nonprofit dedicated to celebrating Filipino heritage, community, and enterprise across the Northeast. Since 1996, we've built the events where Filipino American families gather, where diaspora businesses find their audience, and where the culture is passed to the next generation — not preserved behind glass, but lived out loud.

Fiesta in America crowd
Est. 1996 · Northeast USA
Our Story Through the Years

29 Years of Fiesta

Since 1996, Philippine Fiesta USA has grown from a community gathering into a living Filipino American cultural platform — every ball, expo, and Pasko preserved in our archive.

29
Years of Fiesta
21
People's Balls Held
160+
Honorees Recognized
Early FiestaEarly Fiesta
People's BallPeople's Ball
PaskoPasko
Expo FloorExpo Floor
Our Story

From a Single Fiesta to a Cultural Institution

It started in 1996 with a simple conviction: that Filipino Americans deserved a stage of their own — a place to show the wider world the food, the music, the entrepreneurship, and the community that define who we are.

That first Fiesta in America drew a crowd that proved the point. What followed was a portfolio built one tradition at a time. The People's Ball arrived in 2004, giving the community its own night of recognition and its Empowerment Awards. Pasko in America followed in 2022, bringing the Filipino Christmas — the longest and most joyful in the world — to New Jersey.

Nearly three decades on, we've welcomed hundreds of thousands of guests, recognized more than 160 honorees across all three events, and built a community of over 7,000 families and businesses. But the mission hasn't changed since that first day. We're still building the room where Filipino America gathers.

1996
Fiesta in America
2004
People's Ball
2022
Pasko in America
Founder / early archive portrait
“Not preserved behind glass, but lived out loud — that's the difference between a museum and a fiesta.”
The Archive

A Cover for Every Event, Since 1996

Every Fiesta, Ball, and Pasko has come with its own magazine. Three decades of front covers — drag to browse.

Fiesta in America 1996
1996
Fiesta in America
Fiesta in America 2001
2001
Fiesta in America
People's Ball 2004
2004
People's Ball
Fiesta in America 2008
2008
Fiesta in America
People's Ball 2012
2012
People's Ball
Fiesta in America 2016
2016
Fiesta in America
People's Ball 2019
2019
People's Ball
Pasko in America 2022
2022
Pasko in America
Fiesta in America 2024
2024
Fiesta in America
People's Ball 2025
2025
People's Ball
What We Do

Three Signature Events. One Community.

Every year, Philippine Fiesta USA produces three flagship events — each with its own purpose, each part of the same story.

Purpose Behind Each Event

Mission & Vision

Fiesta in America (Est. 1996)Expo · Cultural Event

Fiesta in America (Est. 1996)

Mission

To create economic opportunities by connecting Filipino businesses, Philippine destinations, and U.S. markets through culture-driven commerce.

Vision

To establish Filipino culture as a visible and practical driver of economic growth in the United States -- helping Filipino-owned businesses in the Philippines and the U.S. thrive and strengthening ties between the Philippines and the Filipino American community.

People's BallGala · Empowerment Awards

People's Ball

Mission

To honor the Filipino Americans whose leadership, service, and achievement strengthen the community — and to give the diaspora a night that belongs to it alone.

Vision

A community that celebrates its own — where excellence is recognized close to home, and the next generation grows up seeing people who look like them being honored.

Pasko in AmericaFilipino Christmas Experience

Pasko in America

Mission

To bring the Filipino Christmas — the world's longest and most joyful — to Filipino American families, so the traditions of home have a place here.

Vision

A diaspora where children raised far from the Philippines still know Pasko in their bones — carried forward not from memory, but from living it every year.

Portrait of Fernando “Nanding” Mendez
Leadership

Fernando “Nanding” Mendez

Founder & Executive Director, Philippine Fiesta USA

Fernando “Nanding” Mendez is the founder and creative force behind Fiesta in America, the largest indoor Filipino cultural expo on the U.S. East Coast. An award-winning art director and designer, he has shaped every dimension of the organization's events since 1996 — from branding and stage design to the launch of People's Ball and, in 2022, Pasko in America. Born and educated in the Philippines, he became the youngest art director at Philippine Advertising Counselors in 1976 before immigrating to the U.S., where he designed the official seal of Billings, Montana and founded Special Edition Magazine.

Read Nanding's Full Story →

Get What's On, Twice a Month

Awardee announcements, performer news, casting calls, and everything happening across our three events — straight to your inbox.

Twice monthly · No spam · Unsubscribe anytime