[HD] Video Footage of Paraw Regatta Festival - February 17, 2013

Location: Villa Beach Shoreline, Baluarte Calumpang Villa Oton Blvd., Sto. Niño Sur Iloilo.

Paraw Regatta Festival or Iloilo Paraw Regatta Festival is an annual festival held on February in Arevalo, Iloilo City. It's main event is a sailboat race in Iloilo Strait that features the Paraw, a Visayan double outrigger sail boat. It is considered as the oldest traditional craft event in Asia, and the largest sailing event in the Philippines. It is one of Iloilo City's tourism events aside from the Dinagyang Festival, Kasadyahan Festival, Chinese new year festival and La Candelaria festival.

The Paraw race course is a thirty-kilometer distance in the Iloilo Strait, running up the coast of Panay and then down the coast of Guimaras, before returning to the finish at Villa Beach. The participating paraws are categorized based on the waterline length of the boat's body and further classified according to their sails which is "Unpainted" and "Painted", wherein the sails are used as canvas for artwork and colorful designs.

The Iloilo Paraw Regatta has grown from a half-day sailboat race into a multi-event festival that it is now.

-Wikipedia