The PASACAT Parol Festival at St. Rita's was this weekend and it was TC's 4th festival as a junior dancer. This was also the first time I wasn't a "stage mom" (relegated to the dressing room and fixing hair and makeup). Instead, I sold my handmade earrings at a vendor table with one of the other moms who sells jewelry. Next to me was a t-shirt vendor (featured in a separate post). Luckily TC only had two dances, the Spanish influenced Aray and the Philippine country dance Sayaw ng Bankgo (Bench dance). The Parol refers to the star shaped lanterns. Below is one of the fancier parols made of capiz. These run about $200 or more. 
Here is the pabitin, which is a lattice strung up with candy and toys (but in the photo it's just toys, cheap ones that is). It is supposed to be raised and lowered like a pinata while the kids grab for the toys. This year, the kids were impatient. They didn't even wait for the pabitin to begin properly. SOme kids (the older ones) started grabbing stuff and the rest followed suit. Turns out my daughter didn't even participate this year because she didn't want to be in the madness of the crowd. Man, scavs!
There were tables with samples of Philippine dance costumes representing the different suites: Spanish, Muslim, and Countryside. THese costumes and textiles are from the Muslim suite.
These were boxes of notecards based on paintings of Philippine dances.
These textiles were on sale. These were malongs, the tube skirts used by the people of Mindanao, which is the southernmost island group of the Philippines. They were never conquered by the Spaniards.
These were handpainted sheer blouses from the Philippines. I'm sure you wear something underneath like a camisole or a spaghetti strap tank top (well at least I would). They were beautiful but the colors were not my thing. I gave up on wearing orange in the 80's.
Stage props - the Bahay Kubo and Carabaos.
The stage...Maligayang Pasko at Masaganang Bagong Taon means "Merry Christmas and Happy New Year" in Tagalog.
Muslim dance costume detail:
A so-called "Filipino" Barbie. Don't get me started on my anti-Barbie rant. To make it short, I FKG hate how some Filipinos are into colonial mentality and equate light skin and European features with being beautiful. I want to see a dark skinned Barbie with a flat nose and a tribal outfit. Aaaagh!!!!!
All of the parents brought food for the dancers. For the regular people, they were served one pan de sal, pancit and one turon (banana lumpia). These were for the kids - pancit bihon and lumpia.
I'm not sure what this was called but I think it's fried rice dough sesame seeds. The filling is sweet bean. They had another version of this that were small balls (heh heh, she said balls). I didn't sample this because I wanted the balls instead!!!
Puto Bumbong - These are steamed purple rice cakes rolled in coconut. You eat it with brown sugar. It's traditionally served during Christmas time. Check out the real coconut shell serving as a vessel for the brown sugar. The tubes of rice are supposed to be steamed in bamboo. Not sure if my friend did this herself or ordered it. It's pretty time consuming.
A crappy picture of the turon (banana fritters/banana lumpia, however you want to call it):
I don't think this is Filipino food, but yes, the fried shit was here in great numbers. This was just one of the many fried items in the back. Yeah, healthy ain't it? These are fried squid strips.
More pancit - you can see the kalamansi (Philippine citrus fruit) along the perimeter of the pan. You squeeze the juice on the pancit to give it more flavor.
One of my favorites - Pinakbet! I don't know who brought this but I know it wasn't one of my friends who normally puts lechon kawali in hers. The meat here was pork, but it wasn't as tasty (i.e. fatty) as lechon kawali. It was kind of dry and hard. I love pinakbet but I hardly make it because Bert doesn't like bittermelon, okra, and eggplant. Or bagoong (fermented shrimp paste) either.
Here's a blurry photo of TC (she's in green) with the other dancers performing "Aray", a dance of Spanish influence because of the waltz steps, hand movements with the tambourine, and the stamping of the shoes on the floor. "Aray" is a Filipino word which means "Ouch". 
Four Parol Festivals down! Next up, the Junior Concert in May. My husband and I will need to gear up for longer practices in the Spring.
Here is the pabitin, which is a lattice strung up with candy and toys (but in the photo it's just toys, cheap ones that is). It is supposed to be raised and lowered like a pinata while the kids grab for the toys. This year, the kids were impatient. They didn't even wait for the pabitin to begin properly. SOme kids (the older ones) started grabbing stuff and the rest followed suit. Turns out my daughter didn't even participate this year because she didn't want to be in the madness of the crowd. Man, scavs!
There were tables with samples of Philippine dance costumes representing the different suites: Spanish, Muslim, and Countryside. THese costumes and textiles are from the Muslim suite.
These were boxes of notecards based on paintings of Philippine dances.
These textiles were on sale. These were malongs, the tube skirts used by the people of Mindanao, which is the southernmost island group of the Philippines. They were never conquered by the Spaniards.
These were handpainted sheer blouses from the Philippines. I'm sure you wear something underneath like a camisole or a spaghetti strap tank top (well at least I would). They were beautiful but the colors were not my thing. I gave up on wearing orange in the 80's.
Stage props - the Bahay Kubo and Carabaos.
The stage...Maligayang Pasko at Masaganang Bagong Taon means "Merry Christmas and Happy New Year" in Tagalog.
Muslim dance costume detail:
A so-called "Filipino" Barbie. Don't get me started on my anti-Barbie rant. To make it short, I FKG hate how some Filipinos are into colonial mentality and equate light skin and European features with being beautiful. I want to see a dark skinned Barbie with a flat nose and a tribal outfit. Aaaagh!!!!!
All of the parents brought food for the dancers. For the regular people, they were served one pan de sal, pancit and one turon (banana lumpia). These were for the kids - pancit bihon and lumpia.
I'm not sure what this was called but I think it's fried rice dough sesame seeds. The filling is sweet bean. They had another version of this that were small balls (heh heh, she said balls). I didn't sample this because I wanted the balls instead!!!
Puto Bumbong - These are steamed purple rice cakes rolled in coconut. You eat it with brown sugar. It's traditionally served during Christmas time. Check out the real coconut shell serving as a vessel for the brown sugar. The tubes of rice are supposed to be steamed in bamboo. Not sure if my friend did this herself or ordered it. It's pretty time consuming.
A crappy picture of the turon (banana fritters/banana lumpia, however you want to call it):
I don't think this is Filipino food, but yes, the fried shit was here in great numbers. This was just one of the many fried items in the back. Yeah, healthy ain't it? These are fried squid strips.
More pancit - you can see the kalamansi (Philippine citrus fruit) along the perimeter of the pan. You squeeze the juice on the pancit to give it more flavor.
One of my favorites - Pinakbet! I don't know who brought this but I know it wasn't one of my friends who normally puts lechon kawali in hers. The meat here was pork, but it wasn't as tasty (i.e. fatty) as lechon kawali. It was kind of dry and hard. I love pinakbet but I hardly make it because Bert doesn't like bittermelon, okra, and eggplant. Or bagoong (fermented shrimp paste) either.
Here's a blurry photo of TC (she's in green) with the other dancers performing "Aray", a dance of Spanish influence because of the waltz steps, hand movements with the tambourine, and the stamping of the shoes on the floor. "Aray" is a Filipino word which means "Ouch". 
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