A creative night market is up at the historical Mint Building, a landmark in SOMA Pilipinas for Filipino Americans in San Francisco, California. The Filipino Night Market in SOMA Pilipinas is intended to preserve the rich cultural heritage of Filipino Americans and protect their innumerable cultural assets across the Bay Area.
SOMA (South of Market Area) Pilipinas came into existence as a dedicated socio-cultural district for the Filipino American community in San Francisco in April 2016 when the Board of Supervisors had unanimously passed a legislation to allocate a large chunk of land in San Francisco’s south of market area. SOMA Pilipinas was a long-cherished dream for Filipino Americans who fought racism in the early 1900’s, and had been subjected to displacement since 1970’s.
The Filipino Night Market in SOMA Pilipinas is expected to help Filipino Americans achieve the goals of SOMA: developing initiatives for welfare of Filipinos, protecting the Filipino cultural heritage and improving the Filipino community life in USA.
A progress report with a concrete plan of developing this cultural district was submitted to the board of supervisors in December 2016. The new creative Filipino Night Market in SOMA Pilipinas is the first stepping stone towards the cultural development of Filipino Americans in the Bay Area. This monthly night market is the brain child of a non-profit organization called UNDISCOVERED SF that is designed to enhance economic activity and create public awareness of SOMA Pilipinas. This first Filipino Night Market in SOMA Pilipinas for Filipino Americans will commence from August 18, 2017 and will be held on third Friday of every month.
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UNDISCOVERD SF is conceived and produced by Kultivate Labs, a nonprofit business catalyst. Desi Danganan, a Filipino American entrepreneur and executive director of Kultivate Labs, is one of the vital players working towards the economic development of SOMA Pilipinas. He says, “It’s our way of getting Filipinos to learn and feel comfortable with reinvesting back into the community.”
SOMA Pilipinas was given a grant of $150000 by the city mayor, of which an estimated amount of $130000 would be used to fund the Filipino Night Market in SOMA Pilipinas. It is also working towards procuring more $65000 through funds to meet the expenses and salary of the staff for the creative Filipino Night Market in SOMA Pilipinas.
Ellen Canale, the chief deputy director of communications for the mayor’s office told Hoodline that UNDISCOVERED SF’s Filipino Night Market in SOMA Pilipinas would be a one-stop place for vendors and artistes of the Filipino American community to represent the Filipino American culture and heritage. Filipinos in San Francisco from different walks of life, including music, technology, food, visual arts, social activism and health, are likely to benefit from the Filipino Night Market in SOMA Pilipinas.
The historic SF Mint building will house the Filipino Night Market in SOMA Pilipinas for Filipino Americans. The Filipino night market at the Mint Building will sprawl across an area of 92,000 square feet. The Mint building is famous for being one of the few buildings that survived the 1906 earthquake in San Francisco.
This is indeed a very proud moment for every Filipino American who has finally been realizing their dreams of preserving their cultural identity in the land of opportunities. This Filipino Night Market in SOMA Pilipinas is approximately 13.9 miles from the San Francisco International Airport and is well connected by all means of transport.
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