Aliw. Ulan. Aliw.

By noon, Super_ed, AF and I were already at the Quirino Grandstand to meet up with Dave_d and other PiPhols to capture the colorful Aliwan Festival. I sure did find a lot of photographers and you’ll be able to recognize their groups by the t-shirts they wear. By 2pm, our group decided to setup at Rajah Sulayman leaving the participants preparing at the Grandstand.

Summer in the Philippines is really hot, dry and humid and that Saturday is no exemption. But by mid afternoon , it started to rain. I wasn’t able to see what happened to the participants and other photographers at the Quirino Grandstand as I was still at Rajah Sulayman. Like most of us in the event, I prayed that it be a short rain and hoped that the people at the Grandstand were able to take shelter. Sadly, the rain didn’t stop immediately. It just poured harder with strong winds to blow it from time to time. It probably lasted an hour or more and most of us were asking if the event is still going to push through.

Well, based from the pictures here, it sure did! The parade started around 6pm already with the participants still filled with energy as they perform their routines. The rain didn’t dampen their spirits at all! As they say, “The Show Must Go On!” That was definitely a good call from the organizers knowing that most of participants are from the province and that extending a day or more could be really costly for all.

To all the 2008 Aliwan Festival 2008 participants, I salute you! To me, you guys are all winners!