Bravo for Barrio! It’s time for a Phillipines flavour in Stevenage this weekend

Thousands of people flocked to Stevenage last summer for the first Barrio Fiesta Hertfordshire – and if you weren’t among them, now’s the chance to find out what you missed.

There are Barrio Fiesta events all over the country celebrating the culture of the Phillipines, and the inaugural event at Fairlands Valley Showground was hailed a great success.

Now organisers are looking to build on that crowdpleasing celebration with a packed programme of events which runs over two days.

It all starts at 4pm tomorrow, Friday, and after a thanksgiving mass there’s food and festival music until 10pm.

Events on Saturday kick off with a grand parade in the morning, followed by a talent showcase and demonstrations of snake dance and street dancing in the afternoon.

Organisers started putting the programme together as soon as the curtain came down on last year’s event, and many community groups will be involved including the Herts Air Ambulance and Macmillan Cancer Support.

Barrio Fiesta translates as village fair and the programme aims to offer a focus for the county’s Filipino community and to showcase its culture of dancing, music, colourful costumes and food to the wider community.

There’s lots of mainstream entertainment on the timetable, too, with an appearance by Callahan, the band fronted by former The X-Factor contestant Sam Callahan, among the headline draws on Saturday.

The free event is organised by Fil-Herts Barrio Fiesta Organisation and is support by Herts County Council.