Ati-Atihan Festival
Kalibo, Aklan
January 12 to 18
A week long festival in the Province of Aklan is the highlight of events in the province during the month of January, it is known throughout the world as the Kalibo Ati-Atihan Festival and to give you a glimpse of the history and origin, this traditional fiesta is dedicated to the celebration of the Feast of the Santo Niño or the Holy Infant Jesus.
This began as a feast of reconciliation between the immigrant Malays from Borneo and the resident Ati until the Spanish injected some Catholic elements into it It is a three day colorful tribal feast events. It is a gigantic dance and masked ball, in which all inhibitions are thrown to the winds. "Puera pasma! Hala Bira! Viva Santo Nino!". The rousing cries echo through the little town of Kalibo, until the drums fall silent and everyone collapses exhausted.
The Ati-Atihan, held every third Sunday of January in the town of Kalibo in the province of Aklan on the island of Panay, is the wildest among Philippine fiestas. Celebrants paint their faces with black soot and wear bright, outlandish costumes as they dance in revelry during the last three days of this two week-long festival. The Ati-Atihan, a feast in honor of the Santo Niño, is celebrated on the second Sunday after Epiphany. Catholics observe this special day with processions, parades, dancing, and merrymaking. The Santo Niño has long been the favorite of Filipinos and devotion to it has been intense ever since an image was first presented to Juana, Queen of Cebu, in 1521. Although the Ati-Atihan seems to show only revelry, a closer look shows that it has historic origins.
A celebration honoring the Sto.Niño, a harvest thanksgiving, and a 13th-century friendship pact between the native aetas and the Malays. It can be considered the Mardi Gras of the Philippines: a weekend of uninhibited merriment, of endless parades and processions of grouped revelers, soothed and intricately costumed, marching an endless loop of streets, dancing to the continuous, rhythmic and hypnotic beating of drums, while countless Sto. Niño statues are carried by or hoisted over the parading crowds or pushed through small make-do floats. It is a non-stop hyperkinetic street celebration, from morning until dusk, gradually building to a maddening merging of dance, drumbeats and bacchanalia.
The famous ati-atihan festival however, having become a hodge-podge of Catholic ritual, social activity, indigenous drama, and a tourist attraction, the celebration now stretches over several days. Days before the festival itself, the people attend novena masses for the Holy Child or Santo Niño and benefit dances sponsored by civic organizations. The formal opening mass emphasizes the festival’s religious intent. The start of the revelry is signaled by rhythmic, insistent, intoxicating drumbeats, as the streets explode with the tumult of dancing people. The second day begins at dawn with a rosary procession, which ends with a community mass. The merrymaking is then resumed. The highlight of the festival occurs on the last day, when groups representing different tribes compete. Costumes, including the headdress, are made of abaca fibers, shells, feathers, bamboo, plant leaves, cogon, sugar cane flowers, beads, trinkets and an assortment of pieces of glass, metals and plastics. The day ends with a procession of parishioners carrying bamboo torches and different images of the Santo Niño. The contest winners are announced at a masquerade ball that officially ends the festival.
http://www.lakbaypilipinas.com/ati_atihan_festival.html
ATI-ATIHAN FESTIVAL
Ang selebrasyon ng Ati-atihan ay dinadagsa ng mga lokal at dayuhang turista hanggang ngayon.
Kasaysayan
Noong ika-13 siglo (c.1212AD), ipinagbili ng isang grupo ng mga Ati ang isang maliit na lupain sa mga Malay datus. Ang mga Ati ay ang mga orihinal na naninirahan sa Panay Island. Sa sobrang katuwaan, ipinagbunyi nila ito sa pamamagitan ng pagpinta sa kanilang mukha gamit ang uling upang maging kahawig ang mga Ati.
Ang mga Ati ay kilala sa pagkakaroon nila ng maitim na balat at kulot na buhok, at ang salitang "Ati-atihan" ay may ibig sabihin na "Maging katulad ng isang Ati." Ang kapistahang ito, tulad din ng Sinulog sa Cebu, ay itinuturing na "Ina ng mga Pista sa buong Pilipinas" kung saan ginaya ang selebrasyon na ito sa ibang parte ng Pilipinas tulad sa:
Dinagyang sa Iloilo
Halaran sa Capiz
Binilirayan sa Antique
Maskarahan sa Bacolod
At sa iba pang barangay sa Aklan, Antique at Capiz.
Ang Ati-atihan dati ay isang pagan festival at ito ay unti-unting nagkaroonng kahulugang pang-Kristiyano noong dumating ang mga misyonaryo. Sa ngayon, ang ati-atihan ay ipinagdiriwang sa pagbibigay bunyi kay Santo Nino.
Aktibidad
Ang Ati-atihan ay punung-puno ng makukulay, masasaya na aktibidad gayun din ang kanilang malalim na paniniwala sa pasasalamat sa mga biyayang kanilang natatanggap. Ilang araw bago ang mismong araw ng kapistahan, ang mga deboto ay dumadalo sa siyam na arw na misa para sa Santo Nino at benefit dances. Ang masigla at pauli-ulit na indayog ng tunog ng tambol, kasabay ang pagsayaw ng mga tao sa kalsada ay hudyat ng unang araw ng kapistahan. Pagdating ng ikalawang araw, ang mga deboto ay sama-sama sa rosary procession sa madaling araw na nagtatapos sa isang community mass.
Sa huling araw ng pista, isang makulay na kumpetisyon ang ginaganap mula sa iba't-ibang grupo na kumakatawan sa mga tribo. Maliban sa tradisyonal na pagpipinta ng itim na pintura o pagpahid ng uling sa kanilang katawan, ang mga kalahok ay nagsusuot ng makukulay at mapanlikhang mga kasuotan na kadalasan ay gawa sa abaka, shells, balahibo ng hayop, kawayan, dahon, cogon, at bulaklak. bago matapos ang araw, isang prusisyon ang magaganap kung saan ang mga deboto ay may dala-dalang mga bamboo torches at imahen ng Santo Nino. Ang nagwagi naman sa pista ay ide-deklara sa isang masquerade ball.
Tingnan ito para sa schedule of activities ng 2009 Ati-atihan Festival Calendar of Activities
Panlabas na Kawing
Ati-atihan na hinango noong 26 Disyembre 2007.
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