Courtesy of Filipino-American Business Club / Facebook.
Bayonne hosted its first-ever Filipino-American Music and Food Festival, attracting hundreds of people from in-and-out of New Jersey who went to celebrate, acknowledge and become immersed in the culture.
Attendees told Slice of Culture that the day was more than the lumpias, melon juice and line-dance music. To them, it was about feeling seen, embracing the culture and history of Filipinos and Filipino-Americans.
“I’m looking forward to more and they should definitely [have more festivals to] represent us and embrace our culture especially,” Precious, who traveled from Morris County with some friends, told Slice of Culture.
“I totally agree. I think we’re gonna come back next year!” Joe, also of Morris County, added.
The festival—hosted by the Filipino-American Business Club—was thrown in recognition and celebration of Filipino-American History Month (FAHM), which has been celebrated in the U.S. since 2009.
Filipinos were brought to North America decades beforehand by the Spaniards in October 1587. The mass migration didn’t happen, however, until the 1965 “Immigration & Naturalization Act,” which reversed the 1935 “Filipino Repatriation Act,” a xenophobic immigration law, that offered Filipinos transportation back to the Philippines as long as they never returned to the U.S. Most Filipinos—if not all—at the time were brought as enslaved labor workers, mainly in agriculture.
According to the Filipino American National Historical Society (FANHS), October 2025’s theme is “Commemorating the 90th Anniversary of the 1935 Filipino Repatriation Act and the 60th Anniversary of the 1965 Immigration & Naturalization Act.”
“Like other immigrant groups, Filipino American immigrants have contributed significantly to building communities, strengthening the U.S. economy, enriching the nation’s cultural fabric, and advancing movements for labor rights, racial justice and immigrant equity,” FANHS wrote on their website.
Additionally, the late Dr. Dawn Bohulano Mabalon, a professor of history at San Francisco State University, once said about FAHM that:
“History is inclusive of heritage and culture, but it’s also about the ways we have built and changed this nation—our stories, political struggles, transformations, labor, migration, activism, impact of imperialism and war, victories, etc—whereas ‘heritage’ is more limited to what we pass down in terms of culture, legacies… We made history. We helped build this nation. That’s what this month is about.”
Back in Hudson County, at 16th Street Park in Bayonne, vendors outlined the park with long lines, but still, smiling faces. Food vendors included a number of local Filipino eateries like Jayhan’s Grill, Max’s Restaurant and Kanto Filipino Street Food. Non-food vendors ranged from art, fashion and crafts including Street Fair Cosmetic, Alpha Fit Club Bayonne and more. Local officials also attended including Bayonne Mayor Jimmy Davis, Hudson County Executive Craig Guy and Hudson County Commissioner Bill O’Dea.
Performances went on throughout the day with a packed lineup of: Sarah Joy Santos, Hazelnuts, RAGS, Angel Ram, J’Me Bart, Caylen Enriquez, Kaitlyn O’Leary, Bryan Munar, Christiana, Mikaela Rada, Adinah and headliner AJ Rafael.
The crowd grew as the time got closer to 5:45 p.m., as everyone waited for Rafael to hit the stage. Lorelei, who went to the festival with Precious and Joe, expressed excitement to see the Filipino-American singer.
“I’m excited to see AJ! I love him! I love ‘She Was Mine’ [it’s] my favorite song!” Lorelei smiled.
For many, Rafael is recognized as one of the trailblazers for, not only Filipinos, but the AAPI community within the music industry as well as content creation. He’s been creating music for almost 20 years on YouTube; though his first platform was MySpace.
The California-native has millions of supporters across YouTube, Spotify and other social platforms. His 2011 debut album “Red Roses” reached the iTunes and Billboard charts, according to his bio. Since then Rafael has collaborated with many artists like Tori Kelly, Jeremy Passion, Kina Grannis and Albert Posis.
And as soon as he took the stage in Bayonne, the crowd roared. They didn’t hesitate to run closer to the front of the stage when Rafael motioned an invitation to do so.
“When I hit these little pockets of Filipino communities and I meet fans who have listened to me for so long, it just feels really special that I’m able to be here,” Rafael told Slice of Culture, smiling.
“And because I know that I might be a part of the soundtrack to their life or like their journey growing up, and you can tell it means a lot to them.”
One song Rafael played on that Saturday evening was “Take Me Back,” which revisits the early days of his career and also as a person. A video played on the backdrop showing clips from 15-year-old YouTube videos of his collabs with Tori Kelly and Albert Posis; snippets of Wong Fu Production videos; and scenes from one of his favorite animes “Dragonball Z.”
“I think that being one of the first on YouTube to have that kind of platform, I bear a little bit of responsibility for being like a good role model. And I didn’t mind taking on that responsibility as a young singer songwriter… It’s really cool to be able to kind of pass that along to the many Filipino American, Asian American singer songwriters and even influencers… There’s a lot of us now. I mean, still not nearly as enough, there’s still more room at the table for everybody, but I’m very grateful to have been part of that kind of OG Asian American renaissance as I call it.”
– AJ Rafael
Attendees cheered and sang along as he performed his classic songs like “Red Roses,” “We Could Happen” and “She Was Mine,” the last song in which he invited two people from the crowd to sing with him on stage. On social media, people said they felt like their “tween self” listening to his set.
“It means a lot to be part of anybody’s journey. It means even more to be part of like a young Filipino kid who grew up listening [to] me and now they’re maybe young professionals, wherever they’re at or maybe they’re musicians… to be that for somebody, it’s an indescribable thing. I think that it just reminds me that everything I do is bigger than myself,” Rafael said.
“I wanna say thank you to my longtime supporters. I would not be where I am without you. I appreciate you also passing on my music to your kids, to your younger siblings and it is very special to be part of your life.”
Rafael and his wife, Alyssa, are releasing Christmas music and are going on a west-coast Christmas Tour in Hawaii and around Napa Valley. Tickets can be found here.
The Filipino-American Business Club said on their Instagram that it was an “unforgettable” day, and “until next year.”
For more educational resources, you can scroll to the bottom of here for readings or visit FANHS’s Instagram.
