Saturday May 11, 2019 marked the official beginning of the 2019 Manggahan Festival. It’s Guimaras’ biggest blast. My asawa and two nieces and a nephew accompanied me to the annual mango mash. Because of a friendly government employee, we were able to get front row seats to the dance competition.
After a photo op with newly re-elected Guimaras Governor Samuel T. Gumarin, we filled our bellies with the best pizza in Guimaras. After that we headed out to the Dance Competition.
Manggahan Festival 2019 Legendary Latin Dance
We were to able to get inside the barricaded section and stood near the railing which separated us from the dancers. However, it wasn’t long before a gracious government employee soon directed us to a pair of pale turquoise chairs.
I was grateful for the chairs. The Crusty Old Expat knew from last year’s competition that the event would last a couple of hours or more. The dance off started at 8:00 pm, 90 minutes after its scheduled opening.
Because I’ve lived in the Philippines nearly ten years now, I’m extremely familiar with “Filipino Time.” The plastic chairs came in handy.
It was a hot, muggy night in the province for a dance competition. Plenty of bottled water was on hand for the contestants.
Banners overhead flapped in the light breeze.
Let the Competition Begin
Competitors stand on the sidelines waiting for their opportunity to dance. Consequently, our view was blocked numerous times. Hence, our helpful government employee working the festival instructed the dancers and photographers on hand to please sit down.
However, after about an hour into the Latin Dance Competition, our friendly government worker helped us out again. This time she instructed us to lift our chairs over the railing and get right inside the dance floor area.
She informed my wife that as a visitor we would be allowed inside but as a government employee working at the event, she would have to stay right outside the railing.
The competition lasted about two hours. My wife, who is a good dancer in her own right, loves to dance. She thoroughly enjoyed the event. After the event we made our way to the main stage. There was no live band that opening night, but Beauty Queen DJ Jennifer Lee would be performing.
DJ Jennifer Lee from Twitter
More on that event in the next post.