"Alikaraw Festival 2022: HIPSSEA KINI!"

The awaited day has come. The town of Hilongos celebrates it's Annual Fiesta in recognition for Immaculate Conception for the Blessing received for the year. One of the highlights of the said event was this "ALIKARAW FESTIVAL" wherein the contingents from different schools around Hilongos including the Local Government Unit gathered in one place to perform the given theme for their festival dance. And yesterday, I am very fortunate to witness it.

courtesy of Michael Tejara

What is Alikaraw Festival?

• Held annually within the municipality of Hilongos in the province of Leyte, Alikaraw Festival is also one of the most interesting and highly entertaining special events in the area. This colorful festival never fails to amaze tourists and guests, particularly because it commemorates the ancient ritual of a local tribe in Leyte. At the same time, this event is a celebration of the rich natural resources of the place, which boasts of pristine forests and beautiful orchids. During the celebrations, people can witness enjoyable dance presentations, as well as outstanding concerts that feature many talented homegrown singers.

Together with my papa, we travelled for almost an hour going to the said town. The main reason for going there is to witness the "HaNaHS" or Hampangan National High School as the representative of "HIPSSEA" kon Hilongos Public Secondary Schools Employees Association perform their dance festival named as "Tribu Tambayayong."

Before the final performance, the contingents was gathered at plaza Rizal for the parade and beside the town terminal each contingents performed their street dance.

After the performance of HaNaHS, I asked permission to my papa if I can join the parade because my Aunt was there too as my cousin Rhian was one of the dancers. That's the reason why I didn't manage to take photos of the other contingents. For almost half an hour of the parade, everyone were gathered at the Hilongos National Vacation School grand stand for the final performances of the participating schools for the said Alikaraw.

The Tribu Tambayayong was the third to perform. The venue was filled with many people as the audience. Rain of shine, it didn't bother us for as long as we can still have the nice view of their performance. Some were just looking at the videos been taken especially those that are not tall enough to be at the back. Gladly, with a friend of mine (my cousin's girlfriend) and my cousin's niece, we managed to be in a spot where we can take a video comfortably.

Here's the link of the video I have taken yesterday. After they have performed, we decided to leave the venue for my papa also wanted to go home already. It was around 4:30 pm when we travel back home.

When we arrived home, we all watched the video I took especially that my mama didn't come with us. And just the evening came, I decided to post it on my facebook account. It gained a lot of reactions and great comments. If only we waited for the night to come, we should been able to witness a fireworks display and the mini concert of Miss Angeline Quinto.

courtesy of Miss Ana Rose

Ending Thoughts:

Honestly speaking, it was my very first to witness such kind of event. Yes! For two decades and four years, that was the first time I have watched Alikaraw Festival, their actual performances. The experience was great. And for this coming December 31, 2022 they will perform again. This time, it will be held at plaza Rizal for the welcome celebration of New Year.

courtesy of Ma'am Noren

That ends my blog for today my Hive mates. Thank you for your time.

MAY THE GRACE OF THE LORD BE WITH ALL GOD'S PEOPLE!😇

<Date Publish:12/29/2022>
<Author: volleyren20>

Photos are mine otherwise stated.💕