HaLa Bira Iloilo!!!

"Hala bira Iloilo!" was a slogan heard on the streets of Iloilo during the Dinagyang Festival. The festival  is a celebration that honors Santo Nino and the selling of the Panay Island to the Malays by the Atis (I could go on about its' history but you can always wiki it to get a more detailed explanation). The term "hala bira Iloilo" is equivalent to saying "let's go Iloilo"...at least that's my simple translation ;0)



tribu members carrying Santo Nino around on the streets and with their whole body painted to imitate the Atis

 When I planned my 3+ month trip here to the Philippines, I had this festival in mind, arranging my flight so it would make it just in time for this event which I haven't attended since I was a little girl. With a few slight deterrents like the weather and the uncertainty of a  'buddy pass' ticket, I, along with my parents almost missed the festival. Spanning from Friday to Sunday on the 3rd weekend of January, the city comes alive with decorations, music and food all over the streets of Iloilo. Thankfully we made it just in time on Sunday morning to catch the last leg of the festival...the main event, where the competing tribes or "tribus" battle it out on the streets with amazing choreography, live/loud tribal beats, and eye catching costumes and props all made of indigenous materials. It's an important event that my home city boasts about.

with a few of my family posing with Tribu Ilonganon's muses

The number of instruments used by just one tribe was massive.

It seemed like the drums just got bigger and bigger as I walked through the streets.

I thought this was a really cool instrument, at first I thought it was used by blowing into the tubes, but they actually used ping pong paddles to make a really distinct sound.

They were nice enough to let me try some of their instruments (this guy was being teased by his friends for taking a photo with me...which is why he refused to look at the camera)

I loved how we got to walk on the streets right next to the performers, it was the perfect opportunity to take some pics while they were just waiting.

It's impressive how dedicated the members were, standing in sweltering heat in full make-up and costumes for hours. These ROTC students above I particularly was amazed with because they lined the parade route in full military uniform in what must have been above 90 degrees and sunny day.

It was rough having to get through the crowds as we got closer to the grand stand, but it just further assured me that toughing it in the heat was going to be worth it seeing the tribes perform.

Fortunately we were able to hustle our way into a balcony view in the tourism building that overlooked the performance ground (it's always good to know people who know people in the Philippines ;0P )





From the top we had an amazing view of the performances, being able to see their formations and transitions in that angle is breathtaking. The airconditioned room wasn't so bad either.

Eventually decided to get a closer look and snuck our way into the stands. I was nervous at first, but acting like we belonged there with our "paid tickets", no one asked any questions.

Felt really cool to be so close to the tribes, felt like one of the photographers in the press area..hehe

This is Tribu Pan-ay, the Grand Champion, just about to perform.

Right off the bat, I knew they were a serious competitor. Just by their number, costume and choreography they performed with so much energy it was hard to not to like them.

Their costumes were pretty authentic too. Had to avoid zooming too much when they were dancing right in front of me hehe.

Tribu Pan-ay's use of color was so fun and vibrant, my camera couldn't get enough!

Being up close to the performers, I got to see every expression they had. There were some who looked absolutely exhausted, some heavily concentrated on their steps, and most with the biggest smiles on their faces even though you can tell it was the last thing they wanted to do in that heat.

Every Tribu's performance has a unique story line, these guys ^ ^ were acting as tribe leaders and really taking their roles seriously.

The performances run just below ten minutes, but with so many costume changes and hundreds of performers for each tribe, it was hard to tell how long they've been performing. When Tribu Pan-ay performed, I was so consumed with snapping as many shot as I could and capture each movement, I didn't think to really watch the storyline. Things were just moving fast and before I knew it the show was over.

Tribu Pan-ay was last to preform, but proved to everyone that they were certainly not the least.

Tired from the 5am flight into the city and hitting the streets right away, we walked over to my Tita's (aunt) place (which was conveniently just right across the bridge from the stands) and rested for a bit. The plan was to re-energize then hit the streets later that day for some fun street dancing with the tribes. Unfortunately we didn't realized exaclty how tired we were, well at least how tired I was, because when I finally woke up it was too late to hit the streets :0(

Although it was a disappointed I missed the street dancing, I was still glad I made it to see the competition. I figured there's always next year (hopefully I can bring more of my friends and family to really enjoy the festival) so I'll start planning for that trip soon ;0)

Peace, love & hala bira friends!!!