Head to Milpitas for Adobo Festival This Weekend

This Labor Day weekend, Milpitas will play host for the first time to the famous Adobo Festival, which celebrates Filipino food and music Saturday and Sunday.

Though the festival has been around for many years and is a treasured tradition for the Bay Area Filipino community, this is the first time it will be held in Milpitas, said festival organizer Joey Camins of JSC Productions.

“We like to move the festival to a different community each year,” Camins explained. “So this will be the first time we are coming to Milpitas. We are very excited to be here.”

The Adobo Festival centers on the traditional Filipino dish, adobo. Though the name comes from the Spanish language, the dish and cooking process are indigenous to the Philippines. Most often, the Filipino dish features pork or chicken or a combination of both, marinated in a sauce of crushed garlic, vinegar, bay leaf, black peppercorns and soy sauce, browned in oil, and then simmered in the marinade either in the oven or a frying pan, which gives it the favored crisper texture.

This weekend’s festival promises to be a lively event, featuring a concert stage with nonstop live entertainment provided by Filipino musicians and dancers, many of whom are flying in from the Philippines  for the festival. Other events will include a “kiddie pop star competition” for ages 4-10 and several adobo-themed cooking demonstrations and cook-off contests. There will also be giveaways from festival sponsors, including gift cards to local businesses and even airline tickets to Hawaii.

What: Adobo Festival
Where: , 1325 E. Calaveras Blvd. at North Park Victoria Drive (between Milpitas Unified School District and Cardoza Park)
When: Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

For more information, visit pinoyparinkami.com/.