Baguio City was once again one of three Feast of Tabernacles sites in the Philippines. For the 9th consecutive year, the Feast was held at the conference hall of the Ang Ating Tahanan grounds of the Girl Scout of the Philippines in Baguio City.

We were expecting a higher attendance than last year, which was 167, due to the number of families of brethren who registered for the Baguio Feast site. And true enough, that number was surpassed on the very first day of the Feast at 170! This became the highest attendance we’ve ever had since we began keeping the Feast in Baguio City in 2001. We were privileged to have visiting U.S. pastor Ken Treybig and his wife, Kathy, for the first two days of the Feast. 

In spite of the typhoon that hit the Baguio City Feast site, bringing heavy, nonstop rains for seven days of the Feast, the brethren’s spirit of rejoicing was not dampened. All of our activities were done indoors, but hardly anyone was bothered by it. Among the Festival activities were fun and games during the youth day and family day as well as a formal dinner in honor of our senior Feastgoers on Seniors’ Night, where for the third consecutive year, the teens and young adults organized themselves to serve our seniors at the Feast. 

The Festival show this year was held on the third day of the Feast. It featured songs and dances from movie classics like the West Side Story, Sound of Music, My Fair Lady, Les Miserables, Cats and South Pacific. Featured as well were a good number of Filipino songs and folk dances. 

This year’s Feast video on the fourth day of the Feast really inspired all the Feastgoers. Not one left the service hall that day without tears in their eyes.

With all the fine fellowship, enjoyment and the spiritually inspiring messages we received during this Feast, everyone present felt they experienced a greater degree of cooperation and closeness among the brethren in this Festival site. Indeed, this year still stood out as the best so far in many years in spite of the heavy nonstop rains that went on throughout the celebration.

--Rey Evasco