Finding joy in a Filipino supermarket’s late night parties

Breganza has possibly started one of the biggest Filipino house parties in the United States—in of all places, a supermarket. To be specific, Seafood City, the North American food retailer filled with shelves of Filipino foods and products, as well as other Asian comestibles. Since that first DJ gig at Seafood City in Daly City, the Late Night Madness parties have become immensely popular: They have expanded to store locations in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Seattle, and Houston, as well as north of the border in Calgary and Winnipeg, Canada.

Breganza tells JoySauce, “This is actually a bigger deal than we may take it for, so I  wanted to treat it as if it was like the biggest Filipino party ever.”

It just so happened these events began ahead of October, which is also Filipino American History Month—and have continued into November. 

The first Late Night Madness party took place in Daly City, California.

Courtesy of Seafood City

For Dyanna Villaluna Volek, a Filipina American in San Francisco, “joyful” was the word that came to mind when describing her experience at Late Night Madness. However, this unconventional space didn’t try to copy the vibes of a traditional night club with dark lighting and “gatekeeping” as she describes. “So when you come in, it's busy. It's an active grocery market. There's also a food court. There are many people, and then the music starts and people are dancing in the aisles and in front of the frozen food section. People are having a great time, from elders to young kids. You're not self-conscious because you're around family. Everybody feels like that's your Tito,” she says, adding, “It definitely feels like this homey, comfortable vibe where you can be in your pajamas and dancing, and nobody is looking. There’s no dress code. It feels like you're at a potluck because there's Filipino street food. That reminds me of garage parties where it's a little gritty. It smells like fish.”

Food, families, music, and dancing have been foundations of Filipino house parties—especially the tunes. Breganza has played an intergenerational and international track list, featuring Original Pilipino Music (OPM) like mixes of Jessa Zaragoza’s “Bakit Pa”/Why and Lea Salonga’s “Nandito Ako”/I Am Here. DJ YK Athena, also from the Bay Area, has spun Top 40 favorites including “Golden” and “Takedown” from the KPop Demon Hunters soundtrack. And at the beginning of November, she played the gold standard of all Christmas songs—at least to Filipinos—“All I Want For Christmas Is You,” by Mariah Carey.

Music in an integral part of any Filipino house party.

Courtesy of Seafood City

“Everybody, from the front of the store to the back, was singing and jumping to Christmas music, which is the most Filipino thing I've ever seen in my life,” Villaluna Volek says. “Because we're just so used to celebrating Christmas in—I call it the ‘Ber’ months, September, October, November, December. So the fact that they were playing Christmas songs on Nov. 1 was just hilarious.”

While the Filipino community has been discovering euphoria and a new sense of pride from these Late Night Madness parties, Breganza emphasizes that all are welcome. The Filipino house party spirit was something he wanted to infuse into these gatherings: a recognition of family and inclusion, whether a partygoer is an auntie or a guest of a guest.

Breganza tells JoySauce, “The music, morals and values that have been instilled upon us—like no matter who you are, no matter where you're from—if you're in our house, we're going to make sure that you feel welcomed the whole time.” He says as much as he would want to cater to younger people who are going to be new customers for that particular store location, he also wants to make sure that all the elders get to relive a time of what once was when they were living in the Philippines or how things were coming up in the United States for them. “For the aunties and uncles, it was making sure they relive disco back in the day,” he adds. “For the Millennials, it’s taking them back to garages and backyards they would hang out at. For the kids, it was to introduce that whole idea of what a house party actually was in the 80s, 90s, and early 2000s.”

All are welcome (not just Filipinos) to the ongoing Late Night Madness parties.

Courtesy of Seafood City

These social celebrations naturally stemmed from the Philippines, and the folks at Seafood City wanted to capture the feeling of being back in the barrios, where neighbors and families convened at night and shared home-cooked dishes with takeout food from street carts—and good music, to boot.

Patricia Francisco, head of digital and marketing for Seafood City, observed customers coming and going to their locations for late night snacks, and as a result, the marketing team developed a plan to roll out Filipino street food at their Daly City location. TikTok videos of coffee shops with DJs inspired them to do the same.

Simultaneously—and before his first gig at Seafood City—Breganza was deejaying at a golf course and tagged the supermarket in his video to get their attention for a possible collaboration. The rest was history: It was a match made in Filipino heaven.

Francisco says it’s all about bringing people together and making new friends. “What we continue to aspire to do through these events is to build community more than anything, and people who go to our events,” she says, “whether they go alone or come with one friend, they get out of it a bigger bunch of friends, or they run into people they haven't seen in a while. That's what makes it incredible.”

Although admission is still free, you might need to reserve a spot to attend Late Night Madness.

Courtesy of Seafood City

For those who have FOMO, take heart. The Late Night Madness parties will continue, but since the crowds and cha cha lines have gotten bigger, Seafood City has had to manage a reservation system. Admission is still free, but attendees must download the Seafood City app and register for a slot. It’s no wonder why people have flocked back to the parties and more interest has mounted. The videos online have projected pure jubilation. Perhaps the most touching feedback Francisco has received from these festivities is summed up in just a few words: “I didn't know I needed this.”