Makati’s Caracol Festival 2008
Eagles in flight
I think the Philippines is the Festival Capital of the world on the first quarter of the calendar year. There’s the Sinulog, Ati-atihan, and Dinagyang to name a few which happens at the same time if not one after another. But to those in the metro who’s not able to fly to those places where these festivals are held, there’s one closer to home. Makati’s Caracol Festival, now on its second year was held on the 20th of January, third week of the month at the same time with Kalibo’s Ati-atihan. It might not be as wild and crazy as the latter, but it does add a color of revelry to the streets of Makati.
Umbrella Swirls
The Festival was slated to start around 4:00 in the afternoon, but since it was raining a bit, and the organizers were concerned with the well beings of the children participants, the parade started a bit later. The main parade started the corner of Makati and Ayala Avenue and headed to the event’s main stage at Goldcrest Parking Area at the back or Park Square 2.
Invasion of the Squids!
The word Caracol was derived from a Spanish word “Snail” and the festival’s overall theme is about the environment and how to take care of it. Hence, costumes of participant paraders and performers are based on nature, from aquatic creatures, forest animals to colorful insects and flora. My favorite of the costumes were of those frogs. Those neon colored costumes just grabs your eyes especially on that gloomy weather.
Fish Face she’s not
From the start of the parade I was expecting more loud music, heart thumping drums and some street dancing. I guess I was expecting too much and was rather disappointed. The participants only started dancing when they reached the buildings somewhere near Landmark. It would have been interesting to see if they had street dancing as well.
It’s one of the Flower people
How NOT to shoot a Festival? Bring uncharged batteries and forget your zoom lens. Both of which I did and I was the one who invited Oggie to join with the shoot. Finding my camera already displaying some warning signs was a bit frustrating, still I went to shoot. I was also able to meet up with fellow bloggers Eric and Fernando there.
Groove it Organic Girl
Another major disappointment was the stage setup. Really really bad. Aside from the small stage there were lots of obstruction to the view like the lamp post and some trees. And as for the audience, did the organizers really intend that the people only watch the performer’s backs? What ever happened to audience impact in the judging.
Why the sad eyes froggy?
Anyways, we did manage to go inside the performance area announcing ourselves as part of the media. But we were restricted to shoot only at a certain distance. Shoot, and I didn’t bring my Zuiko 40-150mm zoom lens with me so I had to settle with my Zuiko 12-60mm. But hey, I get to test the len’s splash proofness, but had to cover my camera’s un-splashproof body when it rained a bit. I should really get that new Olympus E-3 body soon so I can shoot even if its raining real hard. I wish. Hehe.
Let’s do the butterfly dance
Another thing on how bad the set up is, there were power interruptions during the performance. When I was there, one group had to finish their routine without music. Pity. And since it was getting dark sooner, it was also a bit harder to shoot. By six we said goodbye to the guys and didn’t finish the performances. I learned sooner there were other power interruptions and another group had to finish their routine without music as well.
The Mulawin walks the street
Caracol is a very promising Festival and has a lot of potential, but bad organization made it really disappointing. Too bad, the participants really had good and colorful costumes. I hope next year the local government of Makati makes it grander and better, learning lessons from this year’s festival.
Dance of the Zebras
Things to improve on? Add more music! Bring in the percussions. Add a street dancing performance category to the contest. it makes the parade more lively. And have a more effective setup and stage.
Protect the Queen
Really looking forward to next year’s Caracol Festival then.
The ugly stage setup
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Monday, January 28th, 2008 at 1:46 pm 
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January 28th, 2008 at 4:40 pm
Wow. I never knew that an urban city like makati has this somewhat rural festival. great pics as usual ferdz.
January 28th, 2008 at 9:22 pm
Too bad I can’t be everywhere. I was busy shooting the procession here in Manila. I didn’t know Makati had its own celebration too.
Nice shots. nice costumes too.
January 28th, 2008 at 11:06 pm
bai! sa wakas, ang caracol pics ng idol ko! well, you said it well — it would’ve been a wonderful celebration if it weren’t for bad organization. sana rin, next time, they start it a lot earlier. they certainly would want a lot of photographers to cover the event so that the daylight would help a lot.
January 28th, 2008 at 11:26 pm
I like ‘Mulawin walks the street’ photo. The costume’s amazing. I’ve never actually seen such parade over here in Malaysia ‘cept for the one that is held on the 9th day of the Nine Emperor Gods Festival and Thaipusam.
By the way, what’s a Mulawin?
January 29th, 2008 at 9:18 am
wow! it seems like the local government of makati is making an investment on this festival. heard of this some years back and it was not as elaborate as what this year’s caracol looks like. back then it was more of a public schools competition. it looks like it has come a long way.
January 29th, 2008 at 11:03 am
sablay nga yung stage hehe. ganda nung squids!
January 29th, 2008 at 2:05 pm
and a better venue na rin siguro, anlaki-laki ng fort bonifacio, bakit kaya di gawin dun (at least sa part na makati pa rin)
January 29th, 2008 at 4:41 pm
huwaw. hanganda! excellent display of colors and sights. galing talaga natin pagdating sa mga festivals no? napaka-creative.
January 29th, 2008 at 4:50 pm
so punta ka pala dyan…wala ako time nyan e may personal reasons kaya ako “homestay”
will again travel next month
January 29th, 2008 at 5:50 pm
It is a small but charming festival.
Costumes are gorgeous and the participants are very motivated.
This is not the second year. It is much older. I took pictures of the festival in 2004 and from my research it was conceptualized in 1988. So it is not 2 years but 20 years old!
The venue is not ideal. Even on a Sunday I guess that the City Government of Makati don’t want to disturb the traffic around Ayala Avenue for too long.
By the way, great pictures. This was of course expected from you!
January 29th, 2008 at 6:08 pm
Since I was there in 2004 I can give you a tip for next year. You need to go there around noon or 2 pm at the latest. There is a parking (I don’t now the name) at the corner of Ayala Avenue and Makati Avenue. It is the assembly point of all the participants. If you are there early you get to see all the groups arriving one after the other and you have plenty of time to take pictures of everybody in peace. Once they are on the move it gets much more difficult and the worst place is in front of the stage.
January 29th, 2008 at 6:09 pm
great caracol photos! see u in Basco! ahaha
January 29th, 2008 at 8:13 pm
nice fiesta.. ang saya nila
January 30th, 2008 at 9:48 am
ohh…I didn’t know Makati has a festival =) Anyway ang ganda nga ng mga costumes nila so based on your description, parang sayang nga noh?
I guess kelangan din ng feedback ng local government on how to improve the Caracol Festival. Anyway ika 2nd year pa lang naman nila
January 30th, 2008 at 6:29 pm
That squid costume is hilarious!
January 31st, 2008 at 1:04 am
akala ko po sa kalibo.. sa makati pala ito!
ang galing!
January 31st, 2008 at 12:40 pm
WOW! i didn’t know this about makati!
January 31st, 2008 at 5:11 pm
Didnt knew Makati has this kind of festival dancing too… Well there is always new thing to learn when dropping by your blog Ferdz.
February 1st, 2008 at 10:06 am
Let’s hope that they get better organized next time. The festival does look promising. I’m surprised that the emergence of these festivals all over the country. We have the Maskara in bacolod now we have the Caracol in Makati !
February 1st, 2008 at 12:24 pm
wow.. I didn’t know that a certain local Caracol could be as big as this….Usually, Caracol is done only in Barrios and Brgy. during fiesta.
I remember one time that I joined Caracol here in Cavite with the rest of the Cavitenyos, and it was honestly fun and memorable.
Nice picz ferdz…….
February 1st, 2008 at 12:55 pm
Wow, this first photo is so fun and alive! Shucks! I’ve never even heard of this festival before. Where have I been?
February 2nd, 2008 at 4:45 am
Interesting costumes. Are those disco pants the squid are wearing? hehe
Who knows? Maybe the organizers will see your blog and follow your suggestions.
February 3rd, 2008 at 2:55 am
hello ferdz,
amazing shots here. colorful festival… im back blogging ,hope to see you there!
eden
February 3rd, 2008 at 1:37 pm
man, i was just too lazy to go to the event even if i’m just within washington! the weather didn’t helped a bit and I just stayed home.
looks like i haven’t missed much?