MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine International Arts Festival 2011 opens Sunday at the Fountain Area of Rizal Park. The opening activities, which include workshops, mini-performances, and screenings in the seven tents to be erected to house the seven arts, namely Architecture, Cinema, Dance, Literature, Music, Theater and Visual Arts, will be held from 1-5 p.m.

Organized by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts’ (NCCA) Subcommission for the Arts headed by Commissioner Ricardo de Ungria, the event marks the 20th year that the country is celebrating National Arts Month through a month-long fete, which for this year has the tagline “Ani ng Sining.”

Indeed, the celebration will prove to be a real harvest for the arts, even as it will feature thousands of local artists and cultural workers, as well as artists from Japan, Indonesia, Cambodia, Singapore, Lithuania, Thailand, Vietnam, Brunei Darussalam, Taiwan, and the United Arab Emirates.

From 5-5:45 p.m., the Rizal Park Lagoon will be enlivened by a fabulous parade of “higantes” (giants), marching bands (among them the AFP Band, Army-Navy Band, Joseon Band, Manila City Band, RTU Drum and Bugle Corps., MMDA Band, Quezon City Band, Letran Drum and Bugle Corps, and the Lyceum of the Philippines Drum and Bugle Corps.), street dance groups, NCCA officials and committee members, and the NCCA’s endorsers Boy Abunda and Dingdong Dantes.

Boy Abunda, dubbed the “King of Talk” (he hosts ABS-CBN’s “The Buzz,” “Showbiz News Ngayon SNN,” “Bottomline” and “Inside the Cinema”) and top GMA-7 actor-director Dingdong Dantes, have been appointed NCCA’s Arts and Youth Ambassador, respectively.

The street dance groups will be joined by dancers participating in “Sayaw Pinoy,” the NCCA Dance Committee’s celebration for PIAF 2011. The dance committee is headed by Shirley Halili-Cruz.

From 6-7:15

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