| Paraw Regatta Festival | |
|---|---|
| Date(s) | Third Weekend of February |
| Venue | Villa Beach |
| Location(s) | Arevalo, Iloilo City |
| Country | Philippines |
The Paraw Regatta Festival or Iloilo–Guimaras Paraw Regatta Festival is an annual festival held every third weekend of February in the Arevalo, Iloilo City, Philippines. Its main event is a sailboat race in Iloilo Strait that features the paraw, a Visayan double-outrigger sail boat. It is the oldest traditional craft event in Asia, and the largest sailing event in the Philippines.[1][2] It is one of Iloilo City's tourism events along with the Dinagyang Festival, Kasadyahan Festival, Chinese New Year festival and La Candelaria Fiesta (Fiesta de la Candelaria).[3] The Iloilo Paraw Regatta began as a half-day sailboat race but is now a multi-day, multi-event festival.
The paraw race course is 30 kilometres (19 mi) long, and runs up the coast of Panay and then down the coast of Guimaras, before returning to the finish at Villa Beach.[4] Participating paraws are categorized based on the waterline length of the boat and further classified according to their sails as "unpainted" or "painted".[5] The sails are painted with colorful designs.
The racing breaks down into two classes. Boats of length 16 ft and below of strictly traditional construction and those 16 ft 1 inch through to 22 ft with a wider range of materials allowed.[5]
The first race started in 1973 with the mission to preserve the historic value of the paraws.[6]
