Photos: UH Hilo 2016 Barrio Fiesta

Posted on October 12, 2016November 15, 2025 by Staff

The UH Hilo community celebrates the richness of Filipino heritage and culture.

Photos by Bob Douglas/UH Hilo Stories.

The University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo launched 2016 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 2016 Barrio Fiesta was fashioned after a traditional Filipino fiesta celebration with a festive gathering of special guests, administration, politicians, community members, students, faculty and staff. Performances and traditional Filipino folk games and contests were featured including the famous balut (unhatched fertilized duck egg) -eating contest.

Norman Arancon singing, holding microphone.

Contestants in brightly colored gowns: red purple, blue.

Norman Arancon and king adorned with sashes.

Chancellor Don Straney in traditional shirt.

Woman in lavender dress with wide sleeves at microphone.

Women dancing, black tops and striped skirts.

Group of women dancing, black tops, striped skirts, arms swaying.

Men in shorts and white t-shirts dancing and running.

Men and women preparing to dance tinikling, bamboo poles on ground.

Dancing tinikling, dancers stepping over sliding bamboo poles.

Man and woman dancing tinikling, stepping over sliding bamboo poles.

Group of men and women dancing tinikling, stepping over sliding bamboo poles.

Group of men and women dancing tinikling, stepping over sliding bamboo poles. these poles are doubled in two directions.

Men dancing tinikling, stepping over moving bamboo poles.

Group of dancers at end of dances, faces audience and waving. One carries Philippines flag.

Group of men from audience, traditional clothing.

Women dancing with colorful shawls, holding up their shawls.

Woman dancers covered heads with shawls as one woman without shawl enters the stage.

Women holding up the shawls they are dancing with.

Men in colorful attire are dancing, long strides.

Men dancing and leaping while holding swords.

Group of women dance, at their feet each has dropped a red cloth.

Women in a draped shawl, dance barefoot.

Women in a draped garment, with red cloth at their feet, raise their arms in dance.

Group of women in drpaed garment now sit crouched toward the end of their dance.

Woman with headdress held up on platform as part of dance.

Woman in large headdress and yellow gown held up on platform as part of dance.

Woman dancing with fancy parasol and fan.

Woman dancing with attendant holding fancy orange parasol.

Woman holding bamboo for tinikling dance.

Woman holding other side of bamboo for tinikling dance.

Man in white t-shirt and kerchief at mic.

Norman is singing on stage, women dancing on plaza.

Woman in traditional attire, a blue gown.

Woman in traditional attire on cell phone.

Couple in white, he in black pants, dancing with audience watching.

Women in solid colored shawls dancing: orange, green, red.

Women in shawls dancing with parasols at their feet.

Woman in red shawl dancing with open parasol at her feet.

Woman in orange shawl and billowy white top, dancing.

Woman in red shawl, holding white parasol.

Woman in green shawl holding white parasol while she dances.

Woman in crown and blue sparkly gown singing into mic on stage.

Man in white t-shirt singing into mic on stage.

Man in blue traditional shirt singing on stage, woman at his side.

Couple in traditional attire, man wears a hat with little balls hanging around the edge..

Couple dancing, woman in long flared red skirt.

Man in hat and woman in red skirt, dancing.

Man down on one knee as he dances with woman in red skirt.

Young man in backwards red cap, in eating contest

Woman in eating contest, shoving food in her mouth.

Older woman in traditional attire at the mic.

Woman in traditional attire, white dress, at the mic.

Portrait of young woman in traditional white dress.

Woman in shawl with stars, she stands at the mic.

Man in traditional green shirt and gold ribbon.

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

Share this story

Photos: UH Hilo 2016 Barrio Fiesta

Archives

Featured students