My Street High Street: Bringing back the pleasures of the outdoors

My Street High Street

BRINGING BACK THE PLEASURES OF THE OUTDOORS

Al fresco dining season in the country runs all year round, because the Philippines is fortunately blessed with a warm climate. And without doubt, the wide areas of the Bonifacio Global City (BGC) is among the best places to dine in the open air.

In the lands of Metro Manila, ridden with steel and concrete structures, BGC is like an oasis—a patch of lush vegetation blended with modern architecture—with streets designed for people rather than cars, and with parks nurturing the restless business district. Its DNA easily became the blueprint for emerging townships in the Philippines.

The outdoor spaces of the Bonifacio High Street, a boulevard line, is one of BGC’s most popular hubs. High Street, as its name suggests, is a fully pedestrianized green strip that cuts right in the middle of BGC, surrounded with fine dining, casual dining, family style restaurants, pubs, hip cafés, shops, pop-up stands, and interactive art installations. To the younger crowd, the High Street is a big playground where one can bask in the sun on weekends. To the grownups, it is the perfect spot to take a breather after a long day of work.

Although the pandemic has reshaped our outdoor activities, High Street remains a go-to destination for people who crave for open spaces—especially after months of being urged to stay at home.

BGC’s My Street High Street—a weekend activity dedicated to al fresco dining, strolling, and biking along the car-free 5th Avenue on weekends—has recently revived their outdoor initiative, which started in 2015. This is part of their big efforts to bring back the vibrant BGC street life.

Al fresco on weekends

The BGC greatly benefits from its wellplanned surroundings that allow open spaces to conveniently be converted into an al fresco dining set-up. Following the government’s recent orders to prohibit dining inside restaurants, High Street, without question, has redeemed the businesses in distress.

“We have about 10 to 12 of some of the most beloved Bonifacio High Street merchants who set up pop-up booths,” says Sean Luarca, Fort Bonifacio Development Corporation (FBDC) marketing and

community relations head. “Some of the frequent participating restaurants are Din Tai Fung, Va Bene, and Tiger Sugar, to name a few.”

The vibrant High Street, through the My Street High Street initiative, has bestowed a sanity break for both the people and the businesses—with strict health and safety protocols in place. Luarca adds, “While this initiative has been around since 2015, we expanded it further last year. It is part of our new normal solutions, to provide safe al fresco dining spaces for customers, and at the same time, lend support to businesses and restaurants, who have been deeply affected by the pandemic due to restrictions on dining in restaurants.” Besides bringing back a sense of normalcy in casual dining, BGC’s cameraready milieu will spring your social media back to life. Charming al fresco setups can also be experienced at the Garden StrEAT on 7th Avenue, or at the Parkside Dining areas and The Terraces, in One Bonifacio High Street.

High Street’s Project BUYanihan

The Fort Bonifacio Development Foundation, the BGC’s non-stock and non-profit social responsibility arm, urged its partners to partake in the “Project BUYanihan” program—a significant step intended to support social entrepreneurs amid the challenges, to keep up with the temporary collapse of our consumer-driven economy.

“BGC has always been a pedestrian-first city and this program aims to take back streets and convert them to open spaces, where our community can safely converge, walk their pets, stroll, dine al fresco style, bike, play, or grab their essentials,” explains Luarca.

Apart from bringing back outdoor activities, the initiative stretches further into bolstering small and big businesses deeply wounded by lockdowns.

Among the most sought-after stalls in My Street High Street is the social enterprise, Benguet Collective Farmers. Fresh produce from displaced farmers of Benguet fill up the small kiosk, and are offered at an affordable price.

Another gem at the 5th avenue weekend market is the Mask for a Cause, which offers various handwoven essential products, while helping Filipino weavers gain leverage in the new market.

Moving forward

The outdoor activities in BGC are here to stay, post-pandemic. “Once the situation gets better, and government restrictions ease a bit, we also plan to put up art fairs, music, and entertainment,” Luarca assures. The BGC remains optimistic, that it will soon be as vibrant as it was. But the question that needs to be asked is, “How soon?”