The “Hala Bira, Puera Pasma” Street Dancing in Kalibo

September 27, 2008 · Posted in Philippine Festivals · Comment 

Philippine Mardi Gras comes in very spectacular style when the people of Kalibo take to the streets to dance through the night and parade their magnificent costumes. The Ati-Atihan Festival is known to be the wildest among the Philippine fiestas. It has grown in giving honor to Santo Niño, a depiction of the Child Jesus which held every year on the third Sunday of January, in the town of Kalibo, Aklan. Art is become a big factor as celebrants paint their faces with black soot and wear bright, peculiar costumes as they dance in revelry during the last three days of this two week-long festival. There is a mix of parades, procession and dancing people on the rhythms of monotonous music of drums or the rhythmic tinkling of metal and stone on bottles while celebrating the Ati-Atihan.
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