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Philippine Carnival Association was
Manila Carnival was an annual carnival festival held in Manila during the early American colonial period up to the time before the Second World War. It was organized by the American colonial administration to celebrate harmonious US and Philippine relations. The Carnival also showcased the commercial, industrial and agricultural progress of the Philippines. The highlight of the event is the crowning of the Carnival Queens.[1]
History
editOn January 18, 1908 the Philippine Carnival Association was incorporated by then Governor-General of the Philippines William Cameron Forbes.[2]
The fabled Manila Carnival was first held on February 1908. The carnival's original organizer was an American colonel named Captain George T. Langhorne who asked the Philippine Assembly for 50,000 pesos to build a cockpit, exhibit "half-naked" Igorot tribesmen and set up curiosities. Horrified by the plan of the proposed carnival, Governor General James Smith transformed the planned freak show into a ritual celebrating the Philippine-American progress in the islands. Secretary of Commerce Cameron Forbes took charge of the preparation and asked 15,000 instead of 50,000 from the Assembly. He planned to raise another 15,000 by private subscription campaigns such as the Carnival Queen contest.
The site of the Manila Carnival was the old Wallace Field that was just off the present Luneta Park; occupied by the present-day National Library of the Philippines.
During those two weeks of carnival, Wallace Field was walled with sawali and given a decorative facade brilliant with lights and adornments. A variety of shows were presented like circus, vaudevilles, slapstick comedies, and the grand theatrical presentation of Borromeo Lou, the great impresario of the era. Such stars as Atang de la Rama, Katy de la Cruz, Canuplin, Dionisia Castro, often staged performances that audiences loved.[3]
The entrance fee range from 50 centavos and up and one can buy at the gate a mask, a horn and a bag of confetti. The children wore a harlequin, a clown's costume, or a dunce cap, while the elder ones wore dominoes or similar attractive attires.
The scene was like New Year's Eve with all the gaiety, laughter and gossips in old Manila circling around. Everyone seemed to be tooting horns or throwing confetti.
References
edit- ^ "Oh, Meet Me at the Carnival". Manila Carnivals, Alex R. Castro. 20 July 2008. Retrieved 20 July 2008.
- ^ Philippine Carnival Association (1927). Manila Carnival Commercial and Industrial Fair a Recreation Center 1927. Manila: Philippine Carnival Association. p. 25.
- ^ "A Man, A Plan, A Carnival". Manila Carnivals, Alex R. Castro. 16 July 2008. Retrieved 16 July 2008.
External links
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