BY GEROME M. DALIPE IV
ILOILO City – Touted as the oldest and largest traditional craft event in Asia, the Paraw Regatta Festival will hoist the sails from Feb. 26 to March 3.
The Iloilo Festivals Foundation, Inc. (IFFI) announced the 51st edition of the festival during a press conference yesterday.
Considered the largest sailing event in the Philippines, Paraw Regatta will highlight the iconic paraw sailboat, races, cultural performances, and lively street parade to pay homage to the seafaring heritage of the region.
Dr. Robert Somosa, Paraw Sailing Events chair, said they are targeting about 50 paraw racers in the main sailing event on March 3.
Last year, 45 paraw racers from different provinces in Western Visayas participated in the main sailing event.
Somosa said they are in talks with IFFI to increase the cash prizes for participants considering the expenses in making the paraw.
John Lex Bayombong, chairman of the Paraw Regatta Festival, said among the new events in this year’s festival are the Paraw Duathlon, Paraw Beach Bodies, and Paraw Intensity Interval Training.
For his part, Engr. Fulbert Woo, co-chair of the Paraw Regatta Festival, said they hope more small and medium enterprise entrepreneurs from the city and province of Iloilo and Guimaras Island will benefit from the festival.
Lawyer Runiel Reel Matorres, Junior Chamber of Commerce (JCI) Iloilo president, also said they intend to showcase the dancing skills of the Paraw Beach bodies modeling competition on March 3.
The regatta race course stretches some 30 kilometers from Villa Beach in the Arevalo district to Guimaras Island and back to Villa beach.
The Paraw Regatta is a race among seafarers on colorful sailboats called paraws (double-outrigger sailboats) in the straits between Guimaras Island and Iloilo City strait.
The present-day paraw managed to maintain its original design from the sailboats of the first settlers from Borneo who were in search of a peaceful home in 2012 A.D. Surviving the centuries, the paraws have become a vital part of Filipino seafaring life.
First held in 1973, the regatta celebrates the double outrigger boats primarily to preserve the paraw as a significant link to the earliest period of Ilonggo history.
The paraw is a small boat with two stabilizers and was widely used for travel and trade during ancient times. Up to this day, it is still being used as a means of transport as well as a source of livelihood.
The paraw makes 20 kilometers per hour (kph) to 30 kph through the waves. It was the prototype that inspired Westerners to develop the trimaran, the fastest sailboat now on the planet.
The Paraw Regatta Festival 2024 will officially kick off on Feb. 25 with a solemn mass at the Arevalo Parish.
The pre-race registration will start from Feb. 12 to 23 at Ker Building across the Iloilo City Hall from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The Paraw Regatta Festival 2024 events are as follows:
* Pinta layag (Feb. 26 to March 2)
* Pinta Regatta contest (Feb. 27)
* Paraw Regatta Job Fair and Miniature Paraw contest (Feb. 28)
* Slalom Race (Feb. 29)
* Paraw Duathlon, beach sports, Sinamba Sa Regatta (March 2)
* Paraw main race, Pinta Tawo, Pinta Layag judging, Paraw Lechon contest, Paraw Beach Bodies, Lighted paraw and fireworks display, photo contest, and awarding ceremony (March 3)/PN
