Streetdancers added to the festive atmosphere during last Sunday's Wattah Wattah Festival in San Juan. Photo by Elyse Go, InterAksyon.com.
It’s always a wet morning in the City of San Juan, Metro Manila every 24th of June for the past 115 years. It’s the Feast Day of the city’s patron saint and namesake, St. John the Baptist. On this particular day, commuters may will just find themselves soaked , especially inside jeepneys or taxis if you forget to lock the doors. Water comes from different directions as locals try to spray or throw water on everyone to remember the baptism of Jesus Christ by St. John the Baptist.
The year 2002 marked a big shift and turned San Juan day into a different form festival, now officially called as Wattah Wattah Festival, pioneered by then Mayor and now San Juan Rep. JV Ejercito, into more organized fun with a program of activities mostly confined at the Plaza ng Masa.
The Wattah Wattah Festival is also a visual spectacle especially with the colorful costumes of street dancers from various schools and barangays. Photo by Elyse Go, InterAksyon.com.
A parade of floats with city officials and employees led by Mayor Guia Gomez, Vice Mayor Francis Zamora, and Rep. Ejercito, plus firetrucks went around the city with people with water guns and other water containers for a good one hour. Afterwards, people the revelers convened at the plaza for the school and barangay streetdancing competition while the outpouring of water from hoses and a crane continued.
San Juan City Mayor Guia Gomez and Vice Mayor Francis Zamora enjoy the merrymaking and parade of street dancers. Photo by Elyse Go, InterAksyon.com.
A proud Rep. Ejercito shared with InterAksyon: “I’m very proud because probably amongst the festivals in the Philippines, I could say this is one of the most fun in the Philippines, if not the most fun. Iba, eh, kasi nagsasayawan then nagbabasaan so napakasaya.”
Garbed in a t-shirt, the best way to get wet, Rep. JV Ejercito says San Juan's annual Wattah Wattah Festival may be the most fun fiesta in the Philippines. Photo by Elyse Go, InterAksyon.com.
Joining the fun were San Juan resident and Binibining Pilipinas Tourism 2012 Katrina Dimaranan and actress G Toengi.
Ready or not, merrymakers throw water at each other. Photo by Elyse Go, InterAksyon.com.
