Iloilo Paraw Regatta 2011

The 2011 Paraw Regatta was a huge success! As usual, thousands of Ilonggos as well as tourists flocked to the Villa Beach as well as in other festival venues to watch the various event of the festival.

Last Thursday I flew from Manila to Iloilo City to sit as one of the members of the board of judges during the preliminary competition of the Sinamba sa Paraw Regatta Mardi Gras Competition.

This year, there were only four groups that competed but it was hard judging the groups as they were equaly beautiful and the dances were really fantastic.

Last Sunday February 20, was the Paraw Regatta highlights. Early in the morning, scores of paraw (or wind driven sailbots) lined up at the shores of Villa Beach in Iloilo. What made these parae an eye candy is its sails that have been made into a piece of artwork. The sails of paraw are painted depending on the theme of the festival. It was a sight to behold! there were two ctegories of the regaratta: one for the smaller boats and the other one for the larger boats.

From the Villa Beach, the paraw would then sail towards Guimaras and back.

Immediately after the paraaws have left the shores of Iloilo, the final competition for the Sinamba sa Paraw Regatta started. Just like during the preliminaries, the intensity of the competition is really high. The pressure is mounting and everyone is really expected to perform well.

The bleachers at the beach is jampacked. And thank god, we had a nice weather that day.

The four groups routine, costumes, props have changed. The performances last Thursday is a bit different from last Sundays dances. There were new set of props, some have new costume.

Although the Paraw Regatta this year was a huge success, I think there are still some things that need to be fine tuned to make it even more grander next year, here are some of the things I observed during the festivities:

- Ban the use of poppers in Freedom Grandstand. The metallic strips of confetti flying up into the air caused the brief power interruption last Thursday Night. It was scary.

- Control the nuber of fire dancers in every group. It was a scary sight when one group last Thursday performed, while their float is on fire. Always tell the group to be prepared with fire extinguisher during the Thursday night performance.

- Judges’ view should be unobstructed. In order for the judges to see the whole performance, the view must be clear from any obstructions. During the Sunday’s performance, the photographers were right in front of us, blocking our view. I was left with no other choice but to stand up to see the whole performance. I hope the festival organizers would have a better area for photographers.

Other than that, I didn’t see anything wrong. Congratulations to the oprganizers of the 2011 Paraw Regatta Festival in Iloilo City!

Photos courtesy of Robin Pinzon

Postscript: Apologies for the late blogpost. I am currently out of town doing some personal project.