The concept for these two festivals was the same as in Mandaue. Different schools participated in the dance festival/contest. First there is the street dancing and after that they go to a main plaza, where all the groups gather. Lots of citizens gather here to support their school and enjoy the show. Each group presents their dance and each dance has a message concerning the city. Of course they don’t just dance..there is a whole spectacle...some kind of theatre they are performing. At the end of the whole show prices are rewarded to different groups: f.e. best in costume, best in choreography, best in street dancing and finally the overall winners.
The first festival, Hinulawan, took place in Toledo, a two hour bus ride away. We arrived when the street dancing was already ongoing. There were six participants. As they were entering the plaza, we pretended like being part of the groups and taking pictures all the time…that is how we got to have very good seats from where we could enjoy the show…of course the fact that I am white and a tourist made it even easier. As Toledo is known for mining all dances were referring to it. However the last group, and also the winning group, ended their show with the sentence: “discover the beauty behind the city”. I wanted to discover that but time to go back to Cebu…but not without diner. We were invited in the house of one of the counselors…yummy…lechon! Wonderful free diner!
The second festival, Kinsan, was in Aloguinsan, a 2.5 hour bus ride away. This time we got there earlier so we had the chance to explore a bit the city, a very nice place. We first stopped at river/lake. There I was able to take a little ride in a small banca.
Later we went to the center to get some lunch: BBQ with rice :) It was difficult to find the “real” meat (well what we call real) in-between the chicken heads, chicken legs, intestines,…
Again making profit of being white, we were able to enter a little park, with a wonderful view over the sea. Ready for some photoshoot :)
Moving on to the pier were lots of kids were playing…jumping in the sea..
After some picture taking, time to get back to the festival scene.
Streetdancing began. This time there were 10 participants and here the main theme was fishing (Kinsan = some kind of fish). The show in the plaza was just about to start and …the first drop of rain fell…a huge rainfall / storm followed…It kept on raining the whole show..but that couldn’t stop the fun. It had a special atmosphere. The show was great…the groups really did their best. However it was difficult to follow the whole show…but no problem…again being a tourist came in handy…I (and another friend) could join the VIP’s on stage…high and dry…we had a wonderful view!
As it kept on raining we weren’t able to get back home with the last bus…luckily Mikay knows some people and they let us stay at there place! So kind…such wonderful people. Having a nice chat the whole evening. Finally the rain stopped and we were able to take the first ride back to Cebu…at 2 am. You would think this bus would be quite empty..but no…The bus was packed...not only inside but also on the roof...
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