The organizer of the annual Paraw Regatta Festival is banking on the support of schools in Iloilo to sustain the celebration held to honor the seafaring skills of Ilonggos.<\/p>\n
Now in its 53rd year, Paraw Regatta sailing events chair Roberto Somosa said a training workshop will be held on Feb. 23-25 to develop children’s awareness and love for paraw sailing.<\/p>\n
The Paraw Regatta is participated by native sailboats with outriggers, showcasing the maneuvering skills of their crews as they search for the perfect wind.<\/p>\n
The biggest problem, Somosa said, is the dwindling number of participants because, in reality, fisherfolk are no longer using sailboats for fishing.<\/p>\n
\u201cTraditional fisherfolk who used to participate in our Paraw Festival are already using pumpboats for convenience and a more efficient means of livelihood for fishing,\u201d he said in a press conference on Thursday.<\/p>\n
The strategy, he said, is to return to grassroots development and make it school-based, targeting high school students.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor our first workshop, we target 10 teams to be trained, and next year, they will compete in the school category,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
They will also talk with the board members of the Iloilo Festivals Foundation, which supervises all festivals in the city, to build a 20-footer paraw that will be adopted by the schools to ensure its maintenance.<\/p>\n
\u201cHopefully, we will develop the awareness and love for paraw sailing among children,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, this year\u2019s edition of the Paraw Regatta Festival is expected to gather at least 35 participants, down from the 44 sailboats last year.<\/p>\n
Somosa said the race course has been shortened to around 26 kilometers from the usual route of about 30 kilometers across the Iloilo Strait.<\/p>\n
Paraw Regatta Festival Foundation chair John Lex Bayombong said they will be increasing prizes for sailing events to encourage more participation.<\/p>\n
This year\u2019s theme, \u201cSailing Forward, Guided by Tradition\u201d, reflects the festival\u2019s journey of progress while honoring its deep maritime heritage, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt highlights how the festival continues to evolve-embracing modern creativity, tourism growth, and environmental awareness – while remaining rooted in the traditions of Ilonggo seafaring communities,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
One of the innovations this year is the Kusina Regatta cook-off challenge to highlight traditional seafood dishes with a modern twist on Feb. 27.<\/p>\n
Aldene Duyag, creative and artistic director for Paraw Regatta Festival 2026, said the event is one way to attract the younger generation.<\/p>\n
They will be inviting culinary schools in the city to prepare dishes not the traditional way, but with an elevation or twist. (PNA)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Organizers see schools as key to preserving paraw sailing culture.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":262350,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[101],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-262349","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-travel"],"zyndk8_nxtgen_metadata":{"nxtgen_comments":[{"7581":"shared responsibility good concept\r","7582":"food lovers will enjoy \ud83c\udf7d\ufe0f\r"}]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/uptownmanila.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262349","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/uptownmanila.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/uptownmanila.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uptownmanila.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/75"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uptownmanila.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=262349"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/uptownmanila.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262349\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uptownmanila.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/262350"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/uptownmanila.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=262349"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uptownmanila.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=262349"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uptownmanila.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=262349"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}