CHANGWON, 2 October 2016 ? Filipinos living in Seoul and Korea's South Gyeongsang Province left their mark earlier this month at the three-day Migrants' Arirang Multicultural Festival (MAMF), the 11th edition of the country's biggest multicultural festival held annually for migrants, in Changwon, an industrial city some 400 kilometers southeast of Seoul.

The MAMF, held for the seventh time in Changwon from the 30th September to 2nd October, was organized by the Gyeongnam Migrant Community Service Center (GMCSC), together with the city and provincial governments, and the support of the Ministry of Employment and Labor, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, and Gyeongsangnam-do Office of Education.

The Philippines took the Grand Prize of KRW3 million (US$2,700) in the Multicultural Parade, a special event held with the participation of 12 countries highlighting traditional costumes on the festival's last day. According to GMCSC volunteer Anna Sumayod, a total of 220 Filipinos from six community groups participated in the parade. Indonesia and Mongolia rounded the winners' circle.

For the main event, the Korea Migrants' Song Festival, a Filipino migrant Charo Mae Palo residing in Ulsan won second place and the cash prize of KRW2 million (US$1,765) at the event held at the Seongsan Art Hall. Of 14 finalists, three were from the Philippines. First prize was won by a contestant from Mongolia, while a singer from Russia took third place.

The song festival is a nationwide singing competition for foreign residents run in three rounds: regional heats, followed by national semifinals and finals. Entrants sang a K-pop song or other song in Korean, with added points given for original compositions.

Delivering congratulatory remarks at the opening luncheon for VIPs, Philippine Ambassador Raul S. Hernandez congratulated and commended the organizers for "this exceedingly meaningful initiative."

"We live in a society that is ever evolving and fluid. Korea, specifically, is on the threshold of moving into a multicultural society with foreigners accounting for 3.9 percent of its total population", he said, citing how Korea is "working doubly hard" towards the attainment of a multicultural society through foreign family and worker support and awareness programs.

"For us at the Philippine Embassy, there is a very real and human dimension for our quest for multiculturalism", he continued, noting that 10 million of the country's population of 100 million live overseas. Given the 55,000 Filipinos in Korea, "we have an undeniable interest in programs that aim to empower and promote integration of migrants into Korean society."

"As globalization gets more refined, the need to organize this kind of event becomes more necessary in order to promote constructive engagement among people, allowing for a better understanding of each other," the Philippines' top envoy said. "It is my fervent hope that this annual festival will serve as a reminder to all of us that culture is indeed richer when it is shared."

The event was also attended by Philippines-born former National Assembly Representative Jasmine Lee, Cambodian Ambassador Long Dimanche, Bangladesh Ambassador Md. Zulfiqur Rahman, and a number of consuls from Seoul-based embassies.

The festival opened with a congratulatory speech by Cambodian Minister of Culture and Fine Arts Phoeurng Sackona, followed by performances of art troupes from Mongolia, Nepal, Indonesia, and this year's guest of honor Cambodia. The Cambodian troupe performed the "Apsara," a traditional dance designated as a UNESCO intangible cultural asset.

Popular singers from eight participating countries joined the Asia Pop Music Concert, including Korean rocker and MAMF goodwill ambassador Yoon Do-hyun, to wrap up the event on the last day.

The festival events were intended to promote mutual understanding between Koreans and migrants," an official of the community service center was quoted in Korean English-language media as saying. "In this multicultural era, with about 1.8 million migrants living in Korea, we hope the event relieves the distorted, negative perspective towards migrants in Korea."

Despite the rain, some 220,000 people enjoyed the festival, the organizing committee said. The total number of participants from the Philippines throughout the three days was estimated at 500-650, the biggest thus far since the festival was moved to Changwon in 2010.

The Filipino community organizations that participated in MAMF were Seoul-based group of amateur photographers Filipos, the Daegu Filipino Community Council, two Changwon-based groups MACCFIA and KPMA, Miryang Filipino Community, and the Ulsan Filipino Community.

The first MAMF was held in 2005 in Seoul, with 3,500 people attending. Since then it has moved to Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province, and grown to a six-month-long nationwide contest. About 200,000 people attended last year's festival in October over the three days, according to the organizers.

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