The Ati-Atihan is a festival in honour of the St. Niño, celebrated in the third week of January. During the last three days of this week-long festival (fiesta), a parade is characteristic. A colourful happening with celebrants who paint their faces in many different ways and who are dressed in the most exceptional costumes. The dancing on the rhythms of the drums makes this festival comparable with carnivals in Rio in Brazil! The Fiesta is celebrated in Kalibo on the island of Panay (Visayas) Philippines.
The Origin of Ati-Atihan:
In the thirteeenth century, long before the Spaniards came to the Philippines, light-skinned immigrants from the island of Borneo (Kalimantan) in Indonesia arrived on Panay. The local people of Panay, the Ati (negritos), a small and dark (black) kinky-haired people, sold them a small piece of l
and and allowed them to settle down in the lowlands. The Atis themselves, lived more upland in the mountains.
One time the Ati people was in need of food because of a bad harvest in their homelands. They cam down to the lowland inhabitants to ask for some food. They danced and sang in gratitude for the helping hand. A real friendship was born and the Maraynon started to paint their faces black in honor of the Atis and took part in the fiesta.
The Ati-Atihan is a festival in honour of the St. Niño, celebrated in the third week of January. During the last three days of this week-long festival (fiesta), a parade is characteristic. A colourful happening with celebrants who paint their faces in many different ways and who are dressed in the most exceptional costumes. The dancing on the rhythms of the drums makes this festival comparable with carnivals in Rio in Brazil! The Fiesta is celebrated in Kalibo on the island of Panay (Visayas) Philippines.
The Origin of Ati-Atihan:
In the thirteeenth century, long before the Spaniards came to the Philippines, light-skinned immigrants from the island of Borneo (Kalimantan) in Indonesia arrived on Panay. The local people of Panay, the Ati (negritos), a small and dark (black) kinky-haired people, sold them a small piece of l
and and allowed them to settle down in the lowlands. The Atis themselves, lived more upland in the mountains.
One time the Ati people was in need of food because of a bad harvest in their homelands. They cam down to the lowland inhabitants to ask for some food. They danced and sang in gratitude for the helping hand. A real friendship was born and the Maraynon started to paint their faces black in honor of the Atis and took part in the fiesta.