1st Philippine International Pyromusical Competition 2010 Launch Schedule of Activities :

Sunday February 14, 2010

- Philippines @ 7:00 PM

- Australia @ 8:00 PM

Sunday February 21, 2010

- United Kingdom @ 7:00 PM

- China @ 8:00 PM

Sunday February 28, 2010

- France @ 7:00 PM

- Japan @ 8:00 PM

Sunday March 7, 2010

- Singapore @ 7:00 PM

- Malaysia @ 8:00 PM

Sunday March 14, 2010

- U.S.A @ 7:00 PM

- Philippines @ 8:00 PM

Seat Location and Price
VIP (with dinner) @ 1500
Patron @ 500
Gold @ 300
Silver @ 150
Gen. Admission @ 100

I’m so excited for this year Hot Air Balloon festival. Last year was my first time and since then I’m looking forward for the next event. So this year I hope i could join the festival.

Anyway here is the tentative schedule for the 2010 Balloon Festival

Tickets are available at the entrance for PhP 150 per person.

You may also pre-order tickets from the main office. Call them at +63 2 384-0085, or through their mobile number: +63 927 340-4994.

Tickets are available via TicketNet and from Recreational Outdoor eXchange at Bonifacio High Street.

Credit to junsabayton of Flickr

Feast of the Black Nazarene

Date: January 9th Location: Quiapo, Manila

A grand Fiesta, this festival centers on the image of the Black Nazarene which was transported by galleon from Mexico to Manila in the 17th century. The festival is marked by an afternoon procession by thousands of devotees.

Credit to shemlongakit of Flickr

Ati-Atihan

Date: January 16-22 Location: Kalibo, Aklan

One of the most popular of the Philippine festivals, the Ati-atihan is a celebration in honor of the Sto. Niño. Revelers don colorful costumes and paint their bodies black and dance to the distictive beat of “Hala bira!” around the town.

Credit to San Joaquin, Iloilo, Panay, Philippines of Flickr

Pasungay

Date: Every 2nd Saturday of January Location: San Joaquin, Iloilo

A festival of bulls on the hillsides of San Joaquin. Prized bulls from the town and neighboring areas fight amidst wild cheering from spectators.

Credit to akosikenet of Flickr

Sinulog Festival

Date: Every third weekend of January Location: Cebu City, Cebu

The Feast of the Sto. Niño is celebrated in Cebu with a procession, street dancing competition and a fluvial parade. Much like the Ati-atihan, the Sinulog Festival is marked by frenzied reverly to the chant of “Pit Senor!”

Credit to ako may camera of Flickr

Dinagyang

Date: Every fourth weekend of January Location: Iloilo City, Iloilo

Spectacle characterized by a frenetic stomping of feet and hypnotic drumbeating. It is a colorful whirl of thousands of people dressed in unique costumes dancing and chanting all day and night.

Credit to blackhawk1552

Zambulawan

Date: Every third Sunday of January Location: Pagadian City, Zamboanga del Sur

The founding of Pagadian City showcases the Subanon tribe’s rich cultural heritage by way of songs, dances and exhibits of musical instruments.

Please let me know if I missed anything.

Here is the list some of the Philippine Festival. So plan ahead your trip and enjoy the colorful celebration.

A festival is an event, usually and ordinarily staged by a local community, which centers on some unique aspect of that community.

Among many religions, a feast or festival is a set of celebrations in honor of God or gods. A feast and a festival are historically interchangeable. However, the term “feast” has also entered common secular parlance as a synonym for any large or elaborate meal. When used as in the meaning of a festival, most often refers to a religious festival rather than a film or art festival.

In the Philippines, there are hundreds of festivals and fiestas. Festivals and fiestas Show how rich Filipinos are in terms of culture and believes this often show in the colorful and glamorous celebrations.

This is my share in trying to build tourism thru photography and spectatorship.

Follow the monthly list below:

Every year, thousands of tourist and holiday makers flock to this historic town commended as one of the cleanest and most peaceful community in the country. Its cool, fresh and invigorating climate earns her the singular distinction of being called the Summer Capital of Quezon Province. The town’s natural scenic spots and colorful lifestyles add to the charm that entices both foreign and local tourists to visit the place. The San Isidro Pahiyas Festival held every May 15 has become one of the country’s tourist attractions prompting the Department of Tourism to list down Lucban as a tourist town and a cultural heritage site.

During the San Isidro Pahiyas Festival, each household tries to outdo each other in friendly competition as they vie for honor of recognizing their creativity. As incentives to their effort, prizes were given to the winning pahiyas based on a given criteria. This accounts for some of the most curious décor that the unstoppable spirit of the festival tends to show. Decking the hall or decorating the wall with “Kiping” and agricultural harvest is what “PAYAS” or “PAHIYAS” literally means.

Farmers show their bountiful produce such as chayote, radish, pepper and grains of rice. There are miniatures locally known as “ANOK”, fruits, vegetables and longganisa (local sausage) strung together in the most original fashion. Residents engaging in other forms of livelihood display their products too in thanksgiving. The handicraft manufacturer has his house decked with colorful buri/buntal hats, bags, placemats and others while the butcher has a head of roasted suckling pig (lechon) peeking from the window.

The most traditional and certainly the most attractive décor comes of course in the form of “KIPING” which are adorn and strung together to form all sorts of shapes, from chandelier called “ARANGYA” to huge flowers. Kiping is made from ground rice flour, shaped using “cabal” leaves or other leaf forms and colored in radiant red, fuschia, yellow, green and other bright shades. When kiping catches the light of the sun it turns into a veritable cascades of color.

The celebration is a form of thanksgiving for a bountiful harvest and in honor of the patron saint of farmers, San Isidro de Labrador. A procession of the image of San Isidro is planned long before the festival and it is said that houses along the route of the procession passes will be especially favored and blessed in the coming year. It is from this belief that the lavish decoration of the home began. After all, one must welcome the saint’s blessings with rapture and gratitude.

Since the tradition started, Lucban benefits from this event through the TIYANGGE SA LUCBAN, an agro-industrial fair showcasing Lucban’s products. This fair features foods native to the town like the delicious Lucban longganisa, puto seko, broas, tikoy and other delicacies; ornamental plants like dapo and cutflowers; handricrafts such as buri/buntal hats, bags and a number of other cottage industry products.

Aliwan Festival 2009 Schedule of Activities

Aliwan Fiesta 2009 will be held on April 23-25.  It will feature competitions in Festival Streetdance, Float Design, and Festival Queen (Reyna ng Aliwan). The three-day event culminates in a grand parade that kicks off in front of the Aliw Theater, CCP Complex and winds up at Quirino Grandstand, where a star-studded awarding ceremony caps the festival.

April 23

• - Streetdance Forum (CCP Silangan Hall)
• - One Town, One Product Shoppers Bazaar
• - Band Concert and Pasakalye (Aliw Theater outdoor stage - 7:00 p.m.)

April 24

• - One Town, One Product Shoppers Bazaar
• - Aliwan Festival Queen Talent Competition (Star Theater, 1:30 p.m.)
• - Aliwan Festival Queen Pageant Night (Aliw Theater outdoor stage - 7:00 p.m.)

April 25

• - One Town, One Product Shoppers Bazaar
• - Grand Parade (Aliw Theater Complex to Quirino Grandstand - 4:00 p.m.)
• - Awarding Ceremonies (Quirino Grandstand - 9:00 p.m.)

The event: Bagasbas Summer Surf Festival, Bagasbas Beach, Daet, Camarines Norte

The date: April 4-5, 2009. registration starts 8am

What to expect:

Surf Clinics

Have your first taste of surfing, that incomparable feel of walking on water, and it will get you stoked! You’ll be clamoring for more after this. One session will never be enough.

Upon registration, you will be given a time slot for your session. Hold on to it, check-in at your hotel, change and head to the beach. While waiting for your slot, the beach activities are guaranteed to keep you pumped with beach adrenaline!

Sport Climbing

Check out the National Climbing Competition or go face to face with the climbing wall! The country’s best climbers are flocking from all over the Philippines to join the Sport Climbing Association of the Philippines’ National Selections. If you want to be inspired, then this is it. If you want to check out how inspired you are, then go over to the interactive side of the climbing wall and try the wall for yourself!

Beach Ultimate Frisbee

Dive into the sand or watch the pro’s do it. The Philippine Ultimate Association will be holding a special invitational tournament for the top teams in Ultimate Frisbee. Catch high flying action on the beach, and better yet, learn the skills as the pros hold clinics on the beach… FOR YOU. It’s not hard to learn, and before the week end is over, you’ll be joined up with other newbies for a special starter’s game.

Beach Volleyball

Dig and dig as the spikes force you to get down and dirty! Beach volleyball needs no intro, as one of the classic beach sports since the 80’s. My suggestion, form a team while it’s early, call the assigned coordinator from Progressive Volleyball Center below and assure yourselves of a slot before they run out! Clinics to learn the sport? Yes we will hold them if the 2 courts won’t be filled with competitive games.

How much to join?

Ok be ready for this… it’s P500.

What you get:

1. One surf session, inclusive of board rental and instructor
2. One event shirt
3. The right to officially enter your competition of choice
4. The right to officially enter the other competitions
5. The right to join the clinics offered
6. One pair of MOJO slippers
7. A great beach party with Coffee Break Island pumping reggae and ska beats into the summer night
8. All in all, a GREAT DEAL!

So who do you contact?

For the surf session, just come to the beach and sign up on the spot.  The event is at Bagasbas Beach, Daet, Camarines Norte. The registration will be
at the beach.

For official entry into the tournaments:

Sport Climbing : Crissie Malay 0915-9949004, Mackie Makinano 0927-7385492

Beach Ultimate : Ipe Borja 0917-8832223/ 0922-8666232

Beach Volleyball : Ariel Joaquin 0917-5315849/ 0922-2342982

For help on directions, places to stay at the beach or in town:
Camarines Norte Tourism Council: 054-7213087
Edgardo “Boy” R. Reyes, Prov Tourism Officer: 0916-5783096
For general Email inquiries, contact bagasbas.summer.festival@gmail.com

What is Dinagyang?

The Dinagyang is a religious and cultural festival in Iloilo City, Philippines held on the fourth Sunday of January, or right after the Sinulog in Cebu and the Ati-Atihan in Aklan. It is held both to honor the Santo Niño and to celebrate the arrival on Panay of Malay settlers and the subsequent selling of the island to them by the Atis.

Dinagyang began after Rev. Fr. Ambrosio Galindez of a local Roman Catholic parish introduced the devotion to Santo Niño in November 1967. In 1968, a replica of the original image of the Santo Niño de Cebu was brought to Iloilo by Fr. Sulpicio Enderez as a gift to the Parish of San Jose. The faithful, led by members of Confradia del Santo Niño de Cebu, Iloilo Chapter, worked to give the image a fitting reception starting at the Iloilo Airport and parading down the streets of Iloilo.

In the beginning, the observance of the feast was confined to the parish. The Confradia patterned the celebration on the Ati-atihan of Ibajay, Aklan, where natives dance in the streets, their bodies covered with soot and ashes, to simulate the Atis dancing to celebrate the sale of Panay. It was these tribal groups who were the prototype of the present festival.

In 1977, the Marcos government ordered the various regions of the Philippines to come up with festivals or celebrations that could boost tourism and development. The City of Iloilo readily identified the Iloilo Ati-atihan as its project. At the same time the local parish could no longer handle the growing challenges of the festival.

The Dinagyang is divided into three Major events: Ati-Ati Street Dancing, Kasadyahan Street Dancing and Miss Dinagyang.

Today, the main part of the festival consists of a number of “tribes”, called “tribus”, who are supposed to be Ati tribe members dancing in celebration. There are a number of requirements, including that the performers must paint their skin brown and that only indigenous materials can be used for the costumes. All dances are performed to drum music. Many tribes are organized by the local high schools. Some tribes receive a subsidiary from the organizers and recruit private sponsors, with the best tribes receiving the most. The current Ati population of Iloilo is not involved with any of the tribes nor are they involved in the festival in any other way.

Dinagyang was voted as the best Tourism Event for 2006,2007 and 2008 by the Association of Tourism Officers in the Philippines.

The first festival in the world to get the support of the United Nations for the promotion of the Millennium Development Goals.

Cited by the Asian Development Bank as Best Practice on government, private sector & NGO cooperation. (from Wikipedia).

From Dinagyang 2008

From Dinagyang 2008

From Dinagyang 2008

From Dinagyang 2008

From Dinagyang 2008

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From Dinagyang 2008

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From Dinagyang 2008

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From Dinagyang 2008

From Dinagyang 2008

I really wanted to use my own Dinagyang pictures but my face was all over it so I decided to use pictures from my lovely college professor Ces Maria Amular and you can avail her services by visiting Amular Photography