The 17th Panaad sa Negros

Panaad sa Negros is a yearly event in Negros Occidental held during summer. It is a weeklong fiesta celebration showcasing the different attractions and produce of every town and city in the province.

"Panaad" is a Hiligaynon term which means vow or promise. In the olden days, farmers and fishermen would usually vow to hold celebrations as an act of thanksgiving for a bountiful catch or an abundant harvest. Thus, the Panaad sa Negros is a yearly festival of thanksgiving for all the blessings the town and the cities had received. Each town has a booth showcasing their best produce at very affordable prices.

This year is the 17th year of the Panaad sa Negros Festival. It started on March 20 and will end on the 27th. In recent years, this is the earliest time of the year that this festival was held. Usually, it is scheduled mid or late April.

Since I was in Bacolod during the opening day, I took the opportunity to take some photos. I wanted to take pictures of the different participants for the Festival Dance competition. In this contest, every town and city presents their best festival dance.

As I was waiting for my jeepney ride to the Panaad Park (yes, there is a very large park dedicated for this yearly activity), the parade of the different contingents passed by. Here's a picture of the Bacolod contingent...



After several minutes of waiting, I saw a bus with a "free ride" sign. Shameless that I am at times for photo ops like this, I asked if I could hitch. The bus slowed down and I was able to save a few pesos for the fare to the park... :) Many thanks to the Super Ferry staff!!! "Sakay na!"





When I arrived at the stadium, I was again lucky to be wrongly labeled as part of the press. And so, I had no difficulty in getting near the stage, near the contestants and in the stadium grounds. One person with a press ID even asked me for my publication outfit. I smiled and said, "It's CWW." He nodded and said "I see", faking his acknowledgment, as if he knew what CWW meant... Haha!

The Ati-atihan contingent...



Another group in black. I think their group is from a festival about "murto" or ghosts...



A muse of one of the competing groups...



The following pictures remind me of Mulawin. They are from a town famous for fighting cocks. It was hard to do a shot containing the entire group. So I decided to fill the frame with two of their dancers. This I guess is the advantage of zoom lenses.





This group had really colorful costumes...





The next pictures are of the Masskara dancers of Bacolod City. They performed as guests and not as contestants.





Of the many freezing shots I made when the competition started, this I guess is my favorite.



I was not able to stay until the end of the competition as I had another appointment. I missed out on my hometown's spectacular festival dance "Bailes de Luces." It is always put in the end as the performance requires all the lights to be turned off. One will only see the dancing lights coming from the participants.

The Panaad Festival is ongoing until the 27th of March. If you are in Bacolod, go and check it out...