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A Lapu-Lapu Day gathering is being held in Vancouver Sunday, nearly a year after a car ramming killed 11 people at the Filipino festival in April 2025.
The 2026 event, called the Lapu-Lapu Day of Togetherness, is taking place at the Italian Cultural Centre on Slocan Street in Vancouver, rather than on Fraser Street where last year’s tragedy occurred.
Organizer Filipino B.C. says the day is focused on reflection, healing and connection, rooted around the Filipino concept of bayanihan, which refers to collective care and helping one another.
The Lapu-Lapu festival was first held in Vancouver in 2024 and celebrates Filipino culture. It is named after a Filipino chief who fought against Spanish colonization.
Organizers say safety has been a key priority this year.
Vehicle barriers have been installed at entry points around the site, designed to stop a speeding vehicle, according to Meridian Rapid Defense Group, a security company working with organizers.
The measures come as the community continues to grapple with the aftermath of the April 26, 2025 attack.
Nearly a year after 11 people were killed during Lapu Lapu Day celebrations in Vancouver, a scaled back event was disrupted by victims’ family members protesting and looking for answers about where $450,000 in donations went.
Vancouver police say officers will be present to provide security and traffic control, though the department does not release the number of officers deployed for security reasons.
The force says it will also have members from its diversity community and Indigenous relations unit on site.
Protest planned against the event
Some survivors, victims’ families and their supporters protested the event outside the Italian Cultural Centre.
In a statement, the Lapu-Lapu Society of B.C., which has been calling for the event to be paused, said it’s too soon to bring back a festival as many are still grieving.
Jhosie Sico, the mother of Adrian “AJ” Sico who was severely injured in the incident, said her family is still hurting.
“We’re here to show the people that we’re still grieving, we’re still healing. We need help, but we didn’t get any help from them,” she said.
She said victims families asked to pause the event put on by Filipino B.C., or not use the “Lapu-Lapu” name.
“Everytime they use Lapu-Lapu name, it’s like a wound that you’re putting salt on it. It’s still … cutting the wound.”
Mable Elmore, MLA for Vancouver-Kensington, spoke at the protest and said the community should listen to the victims and their families.
“It’s a very solemn occasion to mark the one-year death anniversary,” Elmore said. “And we should respect their wishes.”
RJ Aquino, chair of Filipino B.C., told CBC News healing takes different forms and noted many people have felt alone over the past year.
He said the event is focused on being present with one another.
“This event is completely revamped … it’s not a festival. It’s not taking the same shape and same form, or even tone as previous Lapu-Lapu Day events.”
Kristina Corpin-Moser, executive director of Filipino B.C., said the event is to commemorate the tragedy of last year, while leaving space for memorials on the actual weekend of the one-year date.
“For people who that think that it’s too soon, we recognize those feelings as absolutely valid,” Corpin-Moser said.
“What’s important for us, and what we were trying to do today, is create the safety and space for those who wanted to come together.”
In an Instagram post on Saturday evening, Filipino B.C. said several performers scheduled for the evening have cancelled their performances “due to recent online conduct on personal channels.”
“While live music performances will no longer take place as originally planned, the event will continue with stage programming and food available until 9:00 p.m.,” said the post.
Filipino B.C. said it respects the artists’ decisions and is “reinforcing measures to ensure a respectful environment.”
It’s been almost a year since the deadly attack at the Lapu-Lapu Day festival in Vancouver. Filipino B.C. has announced a new event this April, but as the CBC’s Baneet Braich reports, some victims and Filipino community members say it’s too soon.
Kai-Ji Adam Lo has been charged with 11 counts of murder and 31 counts of attempted murder in relation to the car ramming.
The attack prompted an outpouring of support for B.C.’s Filipino Canadian community, as well as calls for more government supports for those affected.
