On any average day, the South Vancouver neighborhood thrives with the sound of life, but Saturday is not an average day. It is a celebration of Filipino culture, and a live concert music echoes the streets as families line up in food trucks and children play.
On Sunday, it’s weird.
“It gave me chill,” said Francesca Gabo, all out.
Ms. Gabo, 20, left the festival soon after, and a driver crashed the SUV into a large number of people, killing 11 people and injuring more than 30 people.
Now she is back, joining the impromptu vigil of people gazing at police videotapes and vainly absorbing the immense nature of what happened.
“Yesterday was a happy day yesterday,” Ms. Gabor said. “Everyone is celebrating.”
Authorities say the motive for the attack does not appear to be terrorism. But in addition to this, in addition to being a 30-year-old man with a history of mental illness, there are also criminal suspects. Now, he is charged with murder.
At the festival celebrating Lapu Lapu Day, victims are becoming more and more aware of.
According to local news, the youngest is Katie Le, a 5-year-old girl who was killed along with her parents, Richard Le, 47, and Linh Hoang, 30. Rel said Mr Le’s 16-year-old son Andy survived because of the last-minute decision to skip the festival instead of doing homework.
A school board in a nearby suburb said a mentor named Kira Salim was also the deceased. “The loss of our friends and colleagues has shocked and heartbroken all of us,” it said in a statement.
Fundraising began to help injured people get injured in the attack and repatriate the remains of at least one killed victim.
According to the government, more than 960,000 people in Canada have Filipino descendants, about half of whom live in Vancouver, Toronto and Calgary. In June 2023, a government report documented the strong representation of Filipinos in trade, health care, services and business administration.
“Filipino Canadians are one of Canada’s hardest laborers,” the report said.
Many have come to Canada through foreign workers’ programs, including the on-site care workers program that runs between 1992 and 2014, and have helped relocate about 75,000 Filipinos.
Angelo Cruz, who grew up near the festival, said Monday that despite his master’s degree in science, his mother was a babysitter until she gained residency and helped the rest of her family immigrate.
“You make sacrifices and let go of potentially raising your own children because you want your children to live better,” Cruz said.
But Lapu Lapu Day could have gotten rid of all of that.
“It’s a time when we want to express ourselves and have fun,” Mr. Cruz said. “It broke my heart.”
The nearby edges are decorated with yellow, navy blue, white and red colored flags, the ethnic colors of the Philippines, despite the streets being paved with a mix of businesses and restaurants, offering not only Filipino but also Vietnamese, Chinese and Indian cuisine.
On Sunday, Mr. Cruz and his family got out of pins, the restaurant for his traditional favorites such as pancit palabok, garlic noodles and shrimp dishes, as well as Filipino spring rolls, known as Lumpia. Then they head to the vigil.
In one of them, Arturo Macapagal often spent a little time saying a quiet prayer and joined by the priest.
“Whenever you get together, especially in the Filipino community, it’s all about food, happiness, joy and laughter and friendship,” said Mr. Macapagal.
When Prime Minister Mark Carney pays his respects, the crowd bursts into “amazing grace.”
In mourning, life continues.
Music exploded from the proud Pinoy grocery store, a hub for specialty foods. Shoppers browsed the shelves with dried fish called Tuyo, heavy jasmine rice and sweet corn flakes. Posters promoting the Lap Lap Festival are still recorded to the door.
