California State University Fullerton
Pilipino American Student Association Kaibigan
24th Annual Pilipino Culture Night
Saturday, April 9, 2025 @ 2PM & 7PM at LA MIRADA THEATRE 14900 La Mirada Boulevard
La Mirada, CA. WHITE RABBIT TRUCK WILL BE SERVING LUNCH AND DINNER.
PCN 2011 LOLA’S KITCHEN Mission Statement
Pilipino Culture Night, commonly known as PCN, is an annual event that CSUF PASA presents to the community. What began as a night of creating a skit that revolves around the Filipino-American culture and integrating traditional Filipino dances has evolved into a night of unity and love for the Filipino culture. It is indeed a celebration.
This year’s PCN is not just about being of Philippine descent. It is about the one year of hard work that we, the students, put on for two reasons: love for the Filipino culture and the passion to share it with the community.
In last year’s PCN “Hero,” we learned about the Filipino heroes Jose Rizal and Andres Bonifacio. We learned about the sacrifices they made to help their people lead better lives in the Philippines in the late 1800s. This year’s PCN is a little different. Instead of being about the Filipino man, it’s about the Filipino woman.
“Lola’s Kitchen” (Grandma’s Kitchen) is a generation-to-generation story that centers on the two characteristics that every Filipino or Filipino-American can identify themselves with: food and family. In the middle of it all is Gabriela Galang – de la Cruz, the protagonist of the play. While still in the Philippines in the 1950s, she inherits a secret recipe that has only been passed down to the women of her family from her very own mother Gloria. Once in America, Gabriela and her husband Eddie introduce Filipino cuisine to their community by opening up their own restaurant called Aming Kocina (Our Kitchen), and by doing so, share the Filipino culture to those unfamiliar with it. Life is not always so simple, though, especially for Gabriela who must find the courage in her to support her family. The play also shifts to modern-day where the lives of Filipino-American youths are examined and how much or how little they relate to their Filipino heritage. For them, food may just be the key.
PCN is not just a skit. The production also features a live Rondalla musical group that provides the music to the cultural dances and entire show as a whole. In essence, these dances tell a story of the Filipino culture that cannot be shared any other way.
