Ati-Atihan fest kicks off January 9 in California

BY BOY RYAN B. ZABAL

KALIBO, Aklan – A Filipino community in California kicks off its own version of Ati-Atihan festival, not in the streets, but in the halls of Jose Rizal Community Center in Sacramento.
Organized by the Aklan Association of Sacramento and Vicinity, Inc. (AASVI), the Ati-Atihan festival is celebrated by hundreds of Filipino-Americans in Sacramento, Fresno, Stockton and other areas in California on January 9 in honor of Señor Sto. Niño.
The festival is the much-awaited event in California every January for Aklanons starting from 6 p.m. and highlighted by the traditional mass, blessing of Señor Sto. Niño images, dinner, parade of participating tribes and awarding of winners.
Now on its 19th year of celebrating the vibrant and religious event, the California-based Filipino community invites the sons and daughters of Aklan from Sacramento and neighboring communities to experience the mardi-gras style festival.

The town of Kalibo is known for its original Ati-Atihan festival in the country held yearly every January where tens of thousands of local and international devotees expected to witness the festive celebration with street processions, day and night merrymaking and street dancing. The event is a reenactment of the friendship pact between the Bornean datus and native Atis in the 12th century.