Archive for January, 2010

Posted on January 8, 2010 - by Vic

The Mother of Philippine Festivals

ONCE upon a time there was only one festival to speak of in the whole Philippine Archipelago. There was only the Ati-Atihan. And that was only in Kalibo, an old town in northern Panay.

In the sixteenth century, a pious Spanish priest noted that among the Visayan people it was not quite proper to drink alone or to appear drunk in public. The priest would have revised his opinion if he had been to ati-atihan where much of the fervor is fuelled by free flowing locally brewed spirits.

But few Filipinos today know that. Indeed the Philippines of today is not only a country of religious and civic fiestas but also of “festivals”. Check any month in the tourism calendar and you’re bound to find any number of festivals in these islands.
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