Parade and festival, a celebration of the Lgbtq Community in the south bay. This started as a gay rights rally in the 70s. Wait until you hear what you can experience there now. Next, its time to discover one of the Bay Area Special events, if you havent already. Its undiscovered sf, a market festival designed to showcase soma pilipinas, the soma pilipinas cultural district at folsom street between 6th and 7th street in San Francisco. And we wrap up with a special reunion. The original San Francisco dakila band was a hot band in the 70s playing all the big venues, including the fillmore and winterland. The band has now reformed, led by legend David Bustamante and we are proud to have this band of rock, latin, jazz, pop, and funk here in our studio to play live. All of that on our show today. Well, we have an Interesting Partnership on our first event. Were gonna talk about covering bone dancing and the World BuddhistWomens Convention. Joining us now is first our friend who has taught us a lot on our show, reiko iwanaga, the head teacher and choreographer for the san jose obon odori. And also were glad to have yumi hatta, the publicity chair for the World BuddhistWomens Convention, all happening september 1 in San Francisco. Welcome to the show. Reiko iwanaga thank you. Yumi hatta thank you. Robert that is some synergy going on here, isnt it . Reiko most definitely. Robert how does itfirst of all, give us an idea in terms of bone dancing, why thats sort of the common denominator. Reiko well, were joining with the yerba buena gardens festival. Theyre presenting us and its an event open to the entire public but it also celebrates the 88th anniversary of the obon dancing coming to the united states. Robert yeah, i know, and of course, your fatherinlaw was the one that brought it here. Reiko he is the one that brought it here, and we will start with his original choreography with one dance. Robert oh, very nice. Tell us a little bit about the convention. I just think that that is such an interesting thing and especially for people who just culturally i think its very much something that when they hear it theyre kind of intrigued by it. Yumi well, its the 16th World BuddhistWomens Convention and its presented by the federation of buddhist womens associations here in the us, in the continental us, which is part of the buddhist churches of america. And so its part of a network of buddhist womens associations worldwide. So were gonna have people coming from japan and hawaii and canada and brazil and all over the continental us. So were really excited about it. We only get to host it maybe every 20 years and it was hosted here in 1975, here in San Francisco, and its kind of interesting for it to be hosted this time around because its the 120th anniversary of the buddhist churches of america when the first buddhist priest came to San Francisco and introduced this school of buddhism. And so the convention is happening. People are gonna be gathering and this is the end of the obon season so its kind of, you know, the after all the summer festivals, you can go to one more and its open to the public and, i mean, theyre all open to the public but this is a different venue and so its kind of a huge after party for the Convention People and its open to the Bay Area Community and anyone who has ever been to obon dancing and wants a little bit more or who want to see what that is about. And it is for everyone to participate. Its not a show. Its people jump in and reiko will be showing the steps. Reiko and we have other yumi yeah, and everyone, performers too. Robert yes, i used the word synergy before. Reiko we have shirley miramoto who is theteacher and pj hirabayashi who will teach us ei ja nai ka, which is everyones favorite in san jose taiko. Robert youre right, shes from helped start san jose taiko. All right, it is great. Looking forward to seeing it. Its gonna be a very interesting combination. Reiko and we will be dancing with our nbc fans. Robert oh, there you go, okay. Nothing like a little plug for us, right . Thank you very much. Tokyo olympics 2020. Yumi so everyone will be getting robert thats right. It is going to be quite a sight, the american bon dancing. In joy and remembrance taking place september 1 at the yerba buena gardens in San Francisco from 1 p. M. To 3 p. M. , and that is at Mission Street between 3rd and 4th streets. For more details go to nbcbayarea. Com. Robert now stay with us as we dive into Silicon Valley pride, south bays big lgbtq celebration coming up on august 24 and 25, thats next. Robert there is still a long way to go, of course, but the Lgbtq Community has made big strides on some big issues and social obstacles. And it really does feel like there is definitely something to celebrate. With me now are saldy suriben, the chief marketing officer for the Silicon Valley pride events coming up on august 24 and 25 in san jose. Saldy was born in the philippines but raised in san jose. He is an Event Coordinator for giant creative and that skill certainly helps with Silicon Valley pride cause theres a lot happening there. Welcome to the show. Saldy suriben thank you for having me. Robert now we talked about the fact that this was started out as just a rally in the 70s, and now look what its become, huh . And that must take a great pride in your pride events, now, huh . Saldy yes. Robert so what is going to happen this year . Saldy so this year our date is august 24, 25, at Plaza De Cesar Chavez park. Were gonna have headliners. One of our headliner is macy gray on sunday. Another one is, if youre familiar with rupauls drag race season 11 winner, yvie oddly, will be performing on the main stage. We also have other areas such as the high Tech Pavilion for all of our high tech companies. We also have the Family Garden for family with their kids. We also have the hey girl area where its for the queer women community. Robert hey girl area . Saldy yes. Robert okay. Is it my imagination or is there quite a bit of a hightech kind of element to this years event . Has that always been the case or saldy so this is our second year activating high Tech Pavilion just to reach out to the High Tech Community cause were in san jose and theres other lgbt people, employees, within the high tech companies. Robert is the south bay Lgbtq Community unique in its way from other similar communities because of being in the south bay or being in Silicon Valley . Saldy unique, i robert is it influenced much by the fact that it is such a hightech area of Silicon Valley or not . Robert not really . Saldy not really. Robert okay, what would you say is gonna be the mood at this years . We were talking a little bit about a lot to celebrate, a lot to still be concerned about. We know its a celebration. What do you expect the mood to kind of be like . Saldy i would say its a celebration cause its Silicon Valley pride parade and festival. Were reo ay. Were here and queer and were loud and proud. Robert how about for you . How important is this event for you personally . Saldy its very important because, of course, i help plan this festival. Also, being asian, Asian American, you know, im very proud to be an Asian American and being gay Asian American, to celebrate this event. Robert we talked a little bit before about the Asian American and Pacific IslanderCommunity Within the community, but you feel like its pretty blended in now, that its a very much a easy mix, right . Saldy its easy mix, yes, its very blended, yeah, now. Robert yeah, how about in terms of the kind of that cultural input . Does that help a lot, though . Saldy i would say so, yes. Robert in what way . Saldy in terms of culture, like, theres a lot of families now, especially the asian community, who are very accepting of their lgbtq children. Robert yeah, and that is a big thing, right . I mean, culturally speaking, i remember doing this before and we were talking about that being one of the things that Asian American and Pacific Islander youngsters kind of had to deal with and its a little bit better now, huh . Saldy yes. Robert what would you like to see the event become . Its already gotten so much bigger than it was before. Where would you like to see it go now . Saldy i would say ten years from now or five years from now, i am hoping we could expand it similar to san jose jazz where theres many stages, i would say more than 2; maybe, like, 12 or more stages. And more activation. Robert are you getting a lot of Community Involvement these days . Does the pride parade and festival help in that way . Saldy Community Involvement, yes, in a way that after the festival we also partner with different organizations such as the San Jose Public Library where we do every third sundays ofevery third saturdays of the month we do drag queen story time. Robert very good, okay. Well, thank you very much. Good luck with your event. Saldy thank you for having me. Robert okay, the Silicon Valley pride parade and festival will be the first saturday, august 24, from 4 p. M. To 11 p. M. , then sunday, august 25, from 10 a. M. To 6 p. M. At Plaza De Cesar Chavez in san jose. For more information go to nbcbayarea. Com. Next up, its time to discover undiscovered sf, a festival to boost filipino businesses in San Francisco. Stay with us to hear how. New sichuan hot chicken. For a heart breaking limited time only at panda express. On in the soma pilipinas cultural district in San Francisco, but Community Leaders want to see even more. They feel more people need to discover what is happening there. Joining me now is the cofounder and event producer for undiscovered sf, our friend gina rosales. She is an entrepinay, very clever. She is a wellknown entrepreneur now focusing her efforts on boosting businesses and awareness in that strip of filipino businesses on folsom street. Welcome back. Its good to see you again. Gina rosales thank you for having us back. Robert i know, its great. I reallyi just think its such ai mean, its such a unique event. I was there last year and thisthe camaraderie, the feeling, and the different atmospheres really unique. Gina yeah, my favorite comment or piece of feedback that people say about undiscovered is it feels like coming home. And thats the biggest purpose of why we throw this event, is we want all Filipino Americans and filipinos to feel that they have a home in soma pilipinas where they can be themselves, no matter how filipino they are, a quarter, full, whatever. Dont speak tagalog, youre welcome here. Robert right, my wifes half filipino, see, so she but she enjoys it fully. Gina yeah. [laughing] i see what you just did. Robert yes, the lineup is always the thats what i always enjoy, too, is that it is a fun event. It is to help boost businesses awareness but, really, people go there and they have fun. Gina totally, and featuring amazing local talent is kind of why its called undiscovered sf. People who have been there and also really big names that are filipino and really, just like, breaking barriers doing what theyre doing. Robert right, and i mean, like, for example, we have dakila that has reformed and theyre gonna be performing a little later on our show. And theyre featured at your event, right . Gina totally, sunday, theyll be headlining at sunday streets where were at on folsom street. Its a special one where we kind of partner with another big San Francisco festival and then in september, october, we go back to our new venue for this year is taking over stevenson street between 6th and 7th and a giant parking lot. Robert yes, just follow the crowd, really, is all we were doing, basically, last time. Gina yeah, just smell the food and youll find it, yeah. Robert what is it that you wanna make sure people sort of understand about that . When we say, boosting awareness, i mean, people kind of know that its there but what do you want them to kind of understand about whats going on there . Gina the biggest thing we want people to know is that undiscovered is a festival celebrating filipino culture but were really there for more than just entertainment. Were really here about building a strong base for filipino businesses to thrive and create their own businesses that will hopefully become brick and mortars so we can create a cultural district similar to chinatown or japantown. We have a lot of businesses but theyre kind of spread out all over and so we really wanna condense so people can come to one street and just walk it and see filipino businesses. Robert and i dont think that people are necessarily aware of that because everybody sort of knows that theres a large filipino population in the bay area and there are places like in daly city and other places where you really see a lot of concentration. But you dont really the awareness hasnt been as strong for San Francisco. Gina totally. I mean, the cultural district is new. Its only the fourth year that its been in existence so and theres a lot of people to educate about it. But i think were doing a good job. I mean, last yearlast month. It feels like last year. We launched for our third season and we had over 83,000 in economic activity, like, people coming and spending money at these businesses so thats what excites us. Robert yes, yes, and the pistahan and some other kind of events that go on, all helping raise awareness for the filipino aspect of it, huh . Gina totally. All the filipino festivals have their strong purposes. Pistahans really focused on heritage and theyve been going for so long and, for us, were really focused on the Economic Development piece. Robert how about in terms of reaching out beyond that too . I mean, you know, to me, i mean, some of my friends went to it as well. Theyre not filipino but they enjoyed it. It isnt, like, geared toward any one community, right . Its wide open. Gina not at all, its for anyone. Its for all of San Francisco and even beyond. We actuallywe take rsvps and we see people rsvping from all over the country and if they happen to be in town they wanna come to the festival so its really open to everyone and everyone loves filipino food. So how could you not wanna come . Robert absolutely. How about the businesses there . You know, some of them are probably longtime businesses or, you know, and theyre not as familiar with, say, you know, the marketing online. Theyre more traditional kind of businesses. Thats a tough thing to do. Thats why you have to kind of have these kind of events, right . Gina and thats why the nonprofit exists. So im the event planner. We have another partner thats the nonprofit and their whole purpose is to find those businesses and help them, you know, help them with their accounting, help them with their marketing. So cultivate labs is the nonprofit that focuses on helping those, like, mom and pop shops to really get them into that Technology Era and getting them more business so they can stay open. Robert yeah, it really is kind of works both ways, huh . Its like the people who you want to go there and then the people that you want them to help, it all has to kind of everybody has to kind of come up to the times a little bit, huh . Gina exactly. Its a fun party but its really strategic at the same time. Robert yeah, and anyway, its always a fun event. Thats what i think is a great thing and its great for the Filipino Community and the awareness of the community. So thank you for coming here and talking about it. Gina yeah, thanks so much. Robert all right, people still have time. They gotta get ready now so they can get out there, right . Gina yeah, sunday, august 18, but if not, if they miss it, they can catch us september 21 is also our next one and then october, of course, were celebrating Filipino American history month. Robert very good, okay. If youre watching our show this morning on nbc bay area, then relax and then go on out to the undiscovered sf popup at sunday streets, starting at 11 a. M. , going on til 4 p. M. At folsom street between 6th and 7th street. Need some more details . Go to nbcbayarea. Com. Youve watched us so now its time to get moving. You can also catch us on facebook and twitter. Well be back with a little bit more. Dakila is coming up next so stay with us. phone ringing es offers big button,lized phones. And volumeenhanced phones. Get details on this state program. Visit right now or call during business hours. And accessoriesphones for your mobile phone. Like this device to increase volume on your cell phone. phone ringing get details on this state Program Visit right now or call during business hours. Performance and were so proud to have the group dakila with us. The man behind the Second Chapter of this band is singersongwriter, David Bustamante. David, great to see you again. David bustamante thank you. Robert whats it like reforming the group . David oh, its wonderful. Its like rebirth, you know . Bringing a band back together. Touching and sharing with a new generation of listeners. Robert sounds good. Whos in the group this time . David wow, gonna start from right to left this time. Stage right is our newest member, is tam sigayan on percussions. Ive been looking at this guy for a long time. Now hes with us. Behind me is amado tuazon on drums. On bass is gabe delrosario on bass. And of course, ace on keyboard. Hes also our producer. Ace olfre on keyboards. Robert all right, and whats the song were gonna hear . David this song is entitled mag ka sama, which means come together and come with us. Robert okay. Theres no better way to end this show than to go out with dakila. So thank you very much. We will be back next week. Thanks for watching. Dakila. Enjoy. [singing foreign language] cc by aberdeen captioning 18006886621 www. Abercap. Com they will get it i dont encourage or discourage we are extremely blessed and fortunate. My speaking outlet to the partnership. Good morning. Welcome to sunday today on this august 18. Im willie geist all is quiet in the streets of portland, oregon this morning a day after clashes there between a far right protesters and a masked Group President trump writing on