Photos: Filipino Broadway Stars, New Yorkers Celebrate 115th PH Independence Day

New York, June 6, 2013--Filipino-American Broadway stars Adam Jacobs ("Les Miserables," "Zorro") and Jose Llana ("Spelling Bee," "Here Lies Love") were among those approximately 90,000 to 100,000 New Yorkers, VIPs, and celebrity guests from the Philippines who went to celebrate the 115th Philippine Independence Day festival held along Madison Avenue Sunday, June 2.

This annual festival, which features a grand parade, a street food fair, and a cultural show, has been organized by the Philippine Independence Day Council Inc., in cooperation with the Philippine Consulate General in New York, since the early 1990s. The festival is touted as the largest outdoor gathering of Filipinos in the Eastern Seaboard, if not the world--besides the Philippines.

This year's festival carries the theme of "Celebrating the Renaissance of Filipino Pride."

Antero Martinez, the parade's chairman, said, "This festival acknowledges the resurgence of interest in the youth's Filipino roots--the Filipinos' values, faith, and heritage."

"On this day, we, Filipinos, 'own' Madison Avenue," Martinez added.

Many Filipino youths who reside in the New York Tri-state area (N.Y., New Jersey, Connecticut), which include Jacobs, have not even visited the Philippines; but they feel a sense of Filipino pride nonetheless.

"I have yet to visit the Philippines! I was actually planning on going two years ago but I booked 'The Lion King.' I've been wanting to go for some time. I want to visit the places of my grandparents in Pangasinan, and learn more about where my family and I came from. Maybe I'll get lucky and the next job I do will take me over there," Jacobs told BroadwayWorld.com in a previous interview.

Photos by Adam Jacobs, Oliver Oliveros

Philippine Independence Day Council Inc. presents 115th Philippine Independence Day Parade

Philippine Independence Day Council Inc. presents 115th Philippine Independence Day Parade

Philippine Independence Day Council Inc. presents 115th Philippine Independence Day Parade

Philippine Independence Day Council Inc. presents 115th Philippine Independence Day Parade

Stevenson Van Derodar leads JCI Philippines-New York contingent

Philippine Independence Day Council Inc. presents 115th Philippine Independence Day Parade

Philippine Independence Day Council Inc. presents 115th Philippine Independence Day Parade

Philippine Independence Day Council Inc. presents 115th Philippine Independence Day Parade

TV 5 talent Derek Ramsay

TV 5 talents Derek Ramsay and Aga Muhlach

Philippine Independence Day Council Inc. presents 115th Philippine Independence Day Parade

Philippine Independence Day Council Inc. presents 115th Philippine Independence Day Parade

Philippine Independence Day Council Inc. presents 115th Philippine Independence Day Parade

ABS-CBN talent Gary Valenciano