Jan 21 - Festival in Barutuan

We talked to Rikki our driver and he told us more about this festival taht happens once a year and is a time of blessing and prayer to Sainto Nino and the rice crops/abundance. He was offering a tour for 600 pesos each, round trip in a van and inside views on the town. So we went and it was great! The town is split into sectors and each sector has a dance group (usually youths aged 12-25) they groups compete using their traditional and modern mixed dance style fora winner. The dances are their means of prayer and offereing to sainto nino and the rice crops. Each group is dressed in a different traditional style usign many different natural fibers and objects : coconut fiber, reeds/grasses, banana leaves, chicken feathers, coconuts whole... and more! Rikki led us around to about 4 of the 6 groups to see them before they were to go and dance int eh square. Most of them had black charcoal all over their bodies and rikki told us it was normal for them to come up to us and bless us by putting the cross in charcoal on our foreheads and cheeks. It was really neat and the kids were fun. The dances were pretty amazing, all different beats. Each group had a set of drummers and a small child dressed as sainto nino being escorted in some form or another of a wagon.

Barutuan Church

Entrance to the city

Our "tour" group

got some warriors to protect us !

huge rice husk pile! the dances are to pray to sainto nino for the rice!

One of many el ninos...

locals have a good seat for the show!

Then rikki took us to a real live cock fight... it was interesting.. they attach huge 3-5" long blades on the roosters spurs and they bring in 'tease' roosters to get the fighters agitated.. thent ehy release them. the fights dont usualyl last more then a couple minutes before one rooster is fatally wounded. the pot was about 50,000 pesos and you ahd to put 5,000 pesos in to bet... thats like their whole months wages. the men loved it but the onyl women there were tourists. We headed home and were leaving the next day to go back to princesa!

cock fight prize rooster...