Hey, it’s a Pista! What is a Pista? Well, that’s what a fiesta or festival is called in the Philipppines. Now we all know that every Pinoy and Pinay loves to attend any Pista, di ba? And it just so happened that on August 21st the first Adobo Festival was held in Sacramento CA. Apparently they have had these festivals for a number of years over in the San Francisco Bay Area and they are now bringing the fun here. Of course we had to attend. The event was held in William Land Park, which is a huge park located within the city limits of Sacramento CA. The park is over 166 and a half acres and houses the Sacramento Zoo, a nine hole golf course, Fairy Tale Town, Funderland and various baseball and soccer fields as well as plenty of picnic space. A great location for the Adobo Festival.
As we drove to the park the first thing we saw was this huge balloon. It belonged to one of the vendors and it acted as a beacon for everyone to find the pista. You can see from the sky that the weather was ideal, sunny with a few clouds and a temperature around 75F. Perfect!
As we approached the area, daghan sa kotse ( a lot of cars ) parked by the pista goers.
Walking on we catch our first glimpse of the pista area. Daghan (very many) vendor booths.
Inside the grounds the vendors were all lined up.
Daghan sa tao! So many people!
More people, more vendors.
Here we met a very nice couple. In fact everybody was so nice. This couple are t-shirt vendors and I think they travel around to all the pista. The lady is Bisaya too! She is from Surigao.
Ah, Mama Sita’s. Flavoring envelopes that help you prepare authentic tasting Pinoy dishes like Sinigang and Palabok. Lami, lami. Delicious, delicious.
GMA was there too! No, not the former President, but the TV GMA. I think they were one of the sponsors of the Adobo Pista.
Of course, there was music. I did say this was a Pinoy festival didn’t I? Well, then you have to have music. Here a lovely lady with a lovely voice belts out some popular tunes.
The next act was this band. Rock on!
Backstage other performers were getting ready for their time on stage.
These people were preparing for their Eskrima exhibition. Eskrima is the Philippine’s very own brand of martial arts.
Ah,yes. The food. You can’t have a pista without food.
Barbecue, Chicken, Teriyaki and, yummmm, Garlic Fries.
Magnolia Ice Cream! Hey, make mine ube! 
More food. You can even get Palabok at this vendor. But I couldn’t find Bicol Express.
And, of course, Adobo! This is the Adobo Festival after all.
Well, that’s about it. It was a great day. Good food, good music, good people. We saw some old friends while we were there and we made some new ones too. Friends, food, music. Everyone was so nice. Happiness was everywhere this day. All the people were smiling. And, of course, the hospitality and the graciousness of the Pilipino people was prevalent. All of this is what make the Philippines special to me.
I can’t wait until next year! Come back Adobo Festival!
Well, everything was great until it was time to exit though. Suddenly there was Mrs. Goyo and she said she was going to arrest me! Yikes! Time to layas (escape)! Help! Help! I’m innocent I tell ya’.
