Festival celebrates culture of the Marianas

SAN DIEGO, California—Chamorro Hands in Education Links Unity, or CHE’LU, the San Diego-based non-profit focused on preserving the Pacific Island culture of the Chamorros, will be celebrating its 9th Annual Chamorro Cultural Festival on March 24, 2018, at California State University-San Marcos.

The theme for 2018 is Ta-Silelebra i Lina’la’ Ginen i Lengguahi, Hinemlo’ yan Kuttura, “Celebrating Life Through Language, Health and Culture.”  

The festival is a free event with free covered parking, plenty of seating areas, free Wi-Fi, family-friendly restrooms, and handicap accessibility.

It’s a celebration of the Chamorro culture in one of the largest annual gatherings of Chamorros in the U.S. mainland. It is set to break another attendance record of more than 10,000 visitors with our highly-anticipated family-fun event, celebrating the arts, culture, heritage and customs of the people from the Mariana Islands, which include Guam, Rota, Tinian, Saipan and northern islands in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.  

CCF is a unique day of celebration for Chamorros, uniting the indigenous people of the Marianas from all around the world with music and cultural dance performances, educational workshops, cultural foods and a diverse array of products to accentuate the Chamorro in everyone.

New this year is a Kid’s Zone featuring face painting, games, and cultural crafts for the little ones.  

The popular Beer Garden will return, plus even more mouth-watering island cuisine and vendors than ever before.

On the night before CCF, CHE’LU sponsors and co-host the ‘Sounds of the Marianas’ kick-off concert on March 23, 2018, which will be held at the Sons and Daughters of Guam Club.

CHE’LU is a nonprofit organization, created and sustained by volunteers in San Diego County.  It was established in 2005 to highlight the unique Chamorro culture and its indigenous people. CHE’LU is dedicated to the Chamorro community by strengthening our native language, culture and health through education.

Some of the ways CHE’LU preserves our culture are through the programs we support.  We reach out to the greater community through our Sakman Chamorro project, and free youth cultural music, language, health and dance programs.  

Our entire board hopes you are able to celebrate with us in San Marcos on March 24, 2018. Follow us on Facebook for event updates. (PR)