Pintaflores Festival of San Carlos City, Negros Occidental

Pintaflores Festival of San Carlos City, Negros Occidental

The birth of a cultural tradition

Pintaflores was born out of the people's search for a cultural identity and tradition.

If Cebu City has its Sinulog, Bacolod City its Masskara, and Aklan its Ati-atihan, San Carlos City also dreamt of having its own unique festival.

In 1992, after successfully holding two activities, the Nabingkalan Tattoo Festival and the Dances of Flowers as highlights of the city fiesta, the idea of blending the two concepts to come up with a presentation that could be considered the the City's very own started what today is one of the most popular street dancing festivals in the region - the Pintaflores Festival of San Carlos City.

Pintaflores is coined from the words Pintados, the concept behind the Nabingkalan Tattoo Festival, and the "flores", the Spanish word for flowers that dominated the theme of the Dances of Flowers.

The Pintaflores street dancing and ritual competition highlights the annual Pintaflores festival which starts November 3 and culminates on November 5, Negros Day.

It features rhythmic dances and dance dramas of life and death and the triumph of good against evil that depict the people's thanksgiving of merriment, abundant blessings and success.

As part of the Pintados tradition, the faces, arms, bodies and legs of the dancers are painted with flowers to express gratitude to man and his environment.

The street dancing is culminated by a dance ritual performed at the City Auditorium. Different dance steps and musical accompaniment add to the thrill of the competition.

The Human flower formation is another impressive part of the dance ritual that products the ingenuity and skills of the choreographers and dancers.

To give emphasis to body painting as a ritual of Pintaflores, the festival also features the Body-painting contest that provides expression to the true artistry of the people of San Carlos City.