The 41st Edition of Iloilo Paraw Regatta Festival is celebrated on February 5-17, 2013.
It is said that the Iloilo Paraw Regatta is the oldest traditional craft event in Asia and the largest sailing event in the Philippines. In 2009, Paraw Regatta Festival is hailed as Best Sports Tourism Event in the Philippines.
The objective of the Regatta is to celebrate the skills of the paraw sailors and bring the fiesta spirit into their lives. With the colorful painted sails, this spirit is brought into the lives of the participants and tourists as well.
The "paraw" is the main attraction of the festival. It is what they called these double outrigger boats and is a native sailboat found in the Philippines. Traditionally these boats have been made from dungon, guisoc, ipil, duca, baslayan, bayog, lawaan, basa and molave. Modern implementations now use marine plywood for its availability. The lines for boats have used abaca or Manila hemp, but have fallen out of use in favor of synthetic fiber rope.
The activities are spread in not less than a week. The Samba de Regatta is a celebration of Ilonggo seafaring ingenuity. It is a celebration expressed in music and dance. There's also Miss Iloilo Paraw Regatta, Rowing and Paddling Competition are just a few of the activities.
How to Get to Iloilo
From Manila, you can fly to Iloilo (estimated cost of Php3,000++, round trip, one hour).
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photos/source/reference: iloiloparawregatta.com
