Vancouver Lapu Lapu event set for April 19, a year after deadly attack

VANCOUVER — Advocacy group Filipino BC has announced that it will host its annual Lapu Lapu Day event in Vancouver on April 19 to “reflect on shared healing,” a year after a vehicle ramming attack killed 11 people at the festival in 2025.

The Italian Cultural Centre is donating space for the festival instead of it being held on community streets, a move organizers say is about prioritizing safety.

On April 26 last year, a vehicle plowed down a crowded street of festival goers.

Adam Kai-Ji Lo is charged with 11 counts of second-degree murder and 31 counts of attempted murder.

A statement from Filipino BC on Thursday said this year’s event will focus on “reflection and communal healing.”

It said the morning would focus on reflection, remembrance and community engagement before programming shifts to arts and cultural expression.

“Community members are encouraged to participate in ways that feel meaningful to them and supportive of their individual healing needs,” the statement said.

It said the event will have a comprehensive safety plan, including controlled access, defined entry points, trained security and co-ordination with emergency services.

Some Filipino community members, however, have said it’s too soon to go ahead.

Roan Hidalgo was inspired to start a petition to pause the event for 2026 after seeing a media report that a man whose parents and sister were among the victims killed in the attack was against the festival going ahead this year.

“Regardless of what our petition says and regardless of what I want, the people who matter most right now are those survivors and the victims and their families and friends,” he said in an interview on Thursday.

Hidalgo said he had also attended the street festival last year with his wife and young daughter, but they left shortly before the vehicle-ramming attack.

“It just really dawned on me at the time that as I was putting my child into her car seat, the attacker was getting ready to kill people,” he said in an interview.

Hidalgo said his cousin is still recovering from witnessing the horror of the attack.

Mable Elmore, a member of the B.C. legislature of Filipino descent, shared Hidalgo’s petition in a Facebook post earlier this month.

“A petition is calling on Filipino BC to abandon its plan for a Lapu-Lapu festival in April 2026 in order to allow for time for healing and recovery by survivors of the tragedy last year. Victims and their loved ones are saying ‘No’ to this party. I agree,” said Elmore’s post on March 3.

Hidalgo said the shift to an event focusing on remembering victims, at least for the first part of the day, is a “healthy compromise.”

He said he’s concerned the voices of survivors and the families of those killed are getting lost, though he plans to attend the first half of the event next month.

“I want to remember them, you know, I need to remember them,” he said of the victims.

Filipino BC said the decision to proceed with the event was not made lightly.

“We understand that some individuals feel it may be too soon to hold a gathering this year, and we respect that perspective,” it said in the emailed statement.

“At the same time, we’ve heard a very positive response from many community members and members of the public who do want an opportunity to gather, reflect, and support one another.”

Asked about consultation with victims and families, the group said organizers have “considered the perspectives and feedback from families, survivors, witnesses, and the broader community.”

Filipino BC board member Céline Loriot said the event isn’t about moving on from what happened, but “moving forward together, with survivors, families, and the broader community, to reclaim space for healing, cultural pride, and collective care.”

“We want people to know that however they choose to engage, or even if they choose not to, that choice is respected,” Loriot said in the statement on Thursday.

It said detailed schedules on programming for the festival will be released later.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 12, 2026.

Brenna Owen, The Canadian Press