Photo Essay: UH Hilo’s 2015 Barrio Fiesta celebrates Filipino culture with song and dance

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The event opened with a beautiful parade of people from the university and local communities dressed in colorful Filipino costumes, followed by singing, dancing, and laughter.

Two women balancing baskets on their heads.

Photos by Bob Douglas/UH Hilo Stories.

The University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo kicked off the 2015 Filipino American Heritage Month with the Barrio Fiesta held on Saturday. The annual event is a celebration with colorful costumes, song and dance on the campus’s central plaza.

The 2015 Barrio Fiesta simulated the mood of a traditional Filipino fiesta celebration in a festive gathering of special guests, administration, politicians, community members, students, faculty and staff who started the opening ceremonies with a parade of colorful Filipino costumes and entertainment. Performances from several bands followed the opening ceremonies. Traditional Filipino folk games and contests were featured including the famous balut (unhatched fertilized duck egg) -eating contest among others.

Men dancing in traditional attire.

Women dancing with headdresses and sarongs.

Woman with parasol.

Man placing stack of bowls on woman's head.

Couple dancing, woman leaping up on platform with man's support.

Woman crowning queen of the event.

 

Photos by Bob Douglas, a local artist and sometimes part-time student who volunteers his photography skills to the Office of the Chancellor and UH Hilo Stories.

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