On a Thursday evening in mid-October, the meeting room at the Bismarck Veterans Memorial Public Library will fill with the sights and sounds of an archipelago more than 7,000 miles away. "Know My Culture: Philippines" runs from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. on October 15, 2026, at 515 North Fifth Street. It is free, open to the public, and requires no registration. Children are welcome, and families are encouraged to come together.
The evening is billed as an immersive cultural learning experience covering the history of the Philippines and of the Filipino people, with a particular focus on how the Philippines celebrates Christmas. That is a subject with more depth than a single evening can fully contain. The Philippines is widely described as having the longest Christmas season in the world. Carols begin drifting out of radio stations as early as September, when the "ber" months arrive, and the formal liturgical season opens on December 16 with Simbang Gabi, a series of nine dawn Masses that culminate on Christmas Eve. The season stretches on past New Year's, often not winding down until the Feast of the Epiphany in early January. Central to it all is the parol, the star-shaped lantern that hangs in windows and along streets, a handmade emblem of light and hope whose design blends indigenous craft with centuries of cultural exchange.
This event opens the 2026-2027 fall and winter season of "Know My Culture," a series that has become a fixture in Bismarck. It is the work of the North Dakota Asian-American Arts and Cultural Initiative, known as NDAAACI, presented in partnership with the library. The organization was co-founded in 2022 by Crista McCandless and Joan Klein, two Bismarck-Mandan residents who were both originally from the Philippines. They wanted to showcase Asian art and culture in their adopted community, and they started small. Without a brick-and-mortar home, McCandless and Klein organized programs in coffee shops, restaurants, and each other's houses.
The first "Know My Culture" event, held in November 2023, focused on the Philippines. It featured an art showcase, handmade crafts, food, and fellowship, organized with the help of volunteers and sponsors. A panel discussion followed, moderated by McCandless, with questions from the audience. Klein's artwork was on display alongside pieces by other members of the Filipino community; she came to the project with a background in art and a career in architecture. That first gathering set the template for what followed.
The series has since grown well beyond its origins. It expanded to other Asian cultures, including South Korea, and in the summer of 2025 the library launched a youth-oriented version of the program, exploring India, China, South Korea, and the Philippines through stories, crafts, and movement for children and their families. The library's children's program coordinator, Tiffany Towne, helped bring that youth series to life. Meanwhile, NDAAACI launched an outreach campaign in 2023 aimed at public libraries, arts organizations, and community groups across the state. McCandless led the effort to build partnerships in Bismarck, Fargo, Grand Forks, and Minot, while advisory committee members served as local liaisons. Those conversations produced the Kaleidoscope Project, a series that has since spread to Fargo and Grand Forks.
The broader context matters here. Filipinos make up the largest share of North Dakota's Asian and Asian American community, a population that has grown as more people move to the state for work and to join family. Many arrived in health care and education roles. That presence has reshaped everything from hospital staff rosters to the state's food scene, where Filipino chefs in Minot, Bismarck-Mandan, and Grand Forks have introduced local diners to the cuisine of home. NDAAACI's mission, in its own words, rests on the belief that North Dakota's cultural wealth only grows richer by sharing the diverse heritage of its Asian communities.
For an organization run largely by volunteers, with a small team and no permanent building, the reach is notable. The annual Asian and Pacific Islander cultural expo each May has grown larger every year, drawing performances and displays from countries including India, Indonesia, and the Philippines. The "Know My Culture" talks, which began at the request of the Mandan Morton County Library, have become one of its steadiest offerings.
What makes the October 15 program distinctive is its timing. By mid-October, the "ber" months are well underway in Filipino households, and Christmas is already in the air. An evening devoted to how the Philippines marks the holiday is, in a sense, a chance to step into that season early. Visitors can expect to learn about the history behind the traditions, the Spanish colonial roots that shaped much of Filipino Christianity, and the ways those customs have been carried across an ocean and adapted to life on the northern plains.
The event is the first of several "Know My Culture" gatherings planned for the 2026-2027 fall and winter season, so more cultures will follow in the months ahead. But the series began with the Philippines, and it returns there to open the new season. For anyone curious about the country, its people, or simply why Christmas in the Philippines lasts so long, the library's meeting room on Fifth Street is the place to be on the evening of October 15. Admission is free, no sign-up is needed, and the whole family is invited.