Ati-Atihan organizer forges partnership with GMA Kapuso

BY BOY RYAN B. ZABAL

Ati-Atihan festival organizer in Kalibo will forge a partnership with GMA Network through its regional arm GMA Regional TV for the 2019 Kalibo Sto. Niño Ati-Atihan celebration.

PHOTO BOY RYAN B. ZABAL

The partnership will be formalized with a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) signing during the Tamboe Sadsad Ati-Atihan opening salvo on October 25.

“I think this partnership goes beyond Ati-Atihan. We have been partners with GMA Network for many years and we are excited to strengthen it for the Ati-Atihan to come,” said chairman Albert Menez of Kalibo Sto. Niño Ati-Atihan Foundation, Inc. (Kasafi).

GMA Western Visayas Station Manager Jonathan Cabillon recently held a meeting with Kasafi volunteers in Kalibo, Aklan to discuss the partnership.

With the strategic partnership, GMA Kapuso will bring some of today’s artists in next year’s Ati-Atihan to grace the festivities. The staging of the 2019 edition of Ati-Atihan festival in Kalibo, Aklan is slated from January 11 to 20.

Ati-Atihan has stayed true to its billing as the Mother of All Philippine Festivals and one of Top 300 world’s best festivals.

Ati-Atihan is a weeklong celebration of faith and culture which features religious activities and tourism events for merrymakers and the faithful alike.

Since 2010, the Ati-Atihan festival operates under the auspices of Kasafi in collaboration with the municipal government of Kalibo and Mayor William Sucgang Lachica. 

Menez said they had gained huge support throughout the community along with the personal efforts of Kasafi volunteers to improve and expand the festival, while still paying homage to Senor Santo Niño de Kalibo.