Kapisanan Philippine Centre for Arts & Culture

08/24/2026

Another successful parol-making workshop with Patricia (Maria Patricia Abuel 🌊🥭🌸) at Philippine Independence Day Council 's Mabuhay_TO!

We also loved seeing titos and titas stepping in to help us teach younger ones how to make these popular Filipino holiday decorations :-).

Watch out for our next post about the second workshop we had on hilot—traditional Filipino healing arts, with Mary Hernandez.

Want more workshops like these? We invite you to donate to KAPISANAN through Canada Helps, or by sending an etransfer to [email protected]. We are a charity, so all donations of more than $20 will get a tax receipt. All proceeds go directly in creating arts-based workshops that encourage connection and creativity.

To the generous folks who gave donations this weekend:

Chi miigwetch, sallamat, agyaman kami!

07/24/2026

We're giving away two Festival Passes! Dm us to claim one!

07/12/2026

Our hearts are shattered by the tragedy that occurred during the Salsa on St. Clair festival.  We grieve with the Latinx community and with everyone affected by the grim events, and send our deepest sympathies and offer of support.

The Salsa on St. Clair festival has long been a staple of Toronto summers, where everybody --- including families, the elderly, and children --- can gather in the embrace of community through music, food, and culture.

But fun and happiness are built on an expectation of safety.  And when that safety is breached, the impacts are devastating and enduring for those who are affected at the scene, families and friends, and for communities who will continue to carry memories of this tragedy.

Resilience is tested now.  And so, we stand by you.  We are with you.  We share in this journey.  Because more than ever, we need reminders that communities come together not just during the good times.  We lift with you the weight of grief.

May we continue to come together in solidarity.

From your kasamas,

KAPISANAN

07/07/2026

Learning a language is hard. It’s even harder when learning a language feels like a test of cultural purity. But it doesn’t have to be that way! Kapisanan, in partnership with Kapwa Cultural Initiatives, is inviting Filipinx youth ages 15–29 to a free Filipino language workshop that will share Tagalog through story, poetry, drawing, music, conversation, improvisation, and play.

No matter your skill level when speaking Tagalog, Kapwa Labs is a safe and fun space for learning. No pressure included, but food and drinks will be, so feel free to join us!

🗓️ July 25
🕚 11am – 2pm
📍 Toronto Public Library – Barbara Frum Auditorium
🔗 Save your spot here! https://bit.ly/44CAesd

07/03/2026

APO! In Toronto!

A Canada-based cultural enterprise that builds vibrant gathering spaces to empower and invest in Filipino creatives for heritage preservation, revitalization, and sustainability, fostering a community of intercultural exchange and understanding.

06/30/2026

As we close out the Filipino Heritage and Pride Month of June, we're sharing a recap from the launch of our Edge of KLWKN Lit Series, starting it off with From Melancholy to Joy: An Intimate Pride Reading with C.E. Gatchalian.

Hosted by Dion Flores, we spent the night listening to excerpts from Chris' published works. Plus, we got some intriguing preview of new material!

Catch us in October, when Edge returns to feature Filipino-Canadian writer and poet, Patria Rivera!

Event documented by Shawnell💀🦂蠍
Recap 📹 by 𝖏𝖚𝖑𝖎𝖊𝖓 ❤️‍🔥

***rfilipino

06/26/2026

Learning a language is hard. It’s even harder when learning a language feels like a test of cultural purity. But it doesn’t have to be that way! Kapisanan, in partnership with Kapwa Cultural Initiatives, is inviting Filipinx youth ages 15-29 to a free Filipino language workshop that will share Tagalog through story, poetry, drawing, music, conversation, improvisation, and play.

No matter your skill level when speaking Tagalog, Kapwa Labs is a safe and fun space for learning. No pressure included, but food and drinks will be, so feel free to join us!

🗓️July 25
🕚11am - 2pm
📍Toronto Public Library - Barbara Frum Auditorium

Hope to see you there!

06/15/2026

Meet our host, Dion Flores (Dion Flores)!

A conductor, educator, researcher, and community-builder, Dion brings a deep love of music, culture, and Filipino storytelling to everything he does.

Join Dion and featured author C.E. Gatchalian (both members of Salaysay) for From Melancholy to Joy: An Intimate Pride Reading on Tuesday, June 16, 2026, from 7–9 PM Wildseed Centre (24 Cecil St., Toronto).

Plus: lumpiang shanghai from a meeting place, conversation, and a special musical performance.

A Pride Toronto Affiliate Event.

06/15/2026

Join us on Tuesday, June 16, 2026, from 7–9 PM at Wildseed Centre for Art & Activism (24 Cecil St., Toronto) for an intimate Pride Month reading and conversation with one of Canada's most celebrated Filipino q***r writers.

Our host Dion Flores will share a musical tribute dedicated to survivors of the recent earthquake in the Philippines.

Because rebuilding the archipelago, bahala na (Tagalog)/uray anya (Ilocano).

For more insight into the deeper meanings of bahala na—often misunderstood as simple fatalism but increasingly remembered with a meaning of courage, defiance, and collective action — we encourage you to explore the work of Dr. Marinette Asuncion - Uy, Psy.D. and Carl Lorenz Cervantes.

🏳️‍🌈 From Melancholy to Joy: An Intimate Pride Reading with C.E. Gatchalian
📅 Tuesday, June 16, 2026
🕖 7:00–9:00 PM
📍 Wildseed Centre for Art & Activism, 24 Cecil St., Toronto

Miigwetch/Wel'alin/Salamat/Agyaman kami to Pride Toronto for this partnership, and deep gratitude to Wildseed Centre for continuing to provide space for the Filipino community.

Note about Kimmortal 's song choice: this month marks 10 years since Black Lives Matter - Toronto brought an entire city to, what a writer said at the time, the vanguard of social justice.

They stopped the parade for all of us. Never forget.