The Ati-Atihan Festival is a feast held in honor of the Santo Niño held annually in January concluding on third Sunday, in the town of Kalibo, Aklan in the Philippines.
It is the wildest among Philippine fiestas and considered as the Mother of All Philippine festivals.
Celebrants paint their faces with black soot and wear bright, outlandish costumes as they dance in revelry during the last three days of this two week-long festival. Catholics and non-Catholics alike observe this special day with processions, parades, dancing, and merrymaking.
There is a modest range of accommodation in Kalibo: Tourists are advised to book reservations well before the Ati-Atihan.
The Ati-Atihan Festival, having become a hodge-podge of Catholic ritual, social activity, indigenous drama, and a tourist attraction, now stretches over several days. Days before the festival itself, the people attend novena masses for the Holy Child (Santo Niño) and benefit dances sponsored by civic organizations. The formal opening mass emphasizes the festival’s religious intent. The start of the revelry is signaled by rhythmic, insistent, intoxicating drumbeats, as the streets explode with the tumult of dancing people. The second day begins at dawn with a rosary procession, which ends with a community mass. The merrymaking is then resumed. The highlight of the festival occurs on the last day, when groups representing different tribes compete. Costumes, including the head-dress, are made of abaca fibers, shells, feathers, bamboo, plant leaves, cogon, and sugar cane flowers. The day ends with a procession of parishioners carrying bamboo torches and different images of the Santo Niño. The contest winners are announced at a masquerade ball that officially ends the festival.