For those who are still unacquainted with Ati-Atihan, Cebu Pacific’s in-flight Smile magazine has a feature on the festival, written by Lester V. Ledesma. An excerpt:

The event’s trademark of soot-blackened, perpetually-smiling ati-ati ‘warriors’ embodying the Filipino penchant for happy times, is the classic emblem of the fiesta islands. With their outlandish tribal-inspired costumes, these street-dancing revelers have appeared in postcards and magazines throughout the world. They are so iconic that their look has been copied countless times in other fiestas throughout these islands, in places as far-off as Manila (located some 250km to the north), which has its own January Santo Niño festival, or as near as neighboring Iloilo (on the other side of Panay Island, where Kalibo is located), which celebrates a similar fiesta called the Dinagyang.

Read the full article on the Smile website.

Around 20 members of the Kimpo Clan held their monthly meeting last Sunday in Max’s Tiendesitas, Ortigas, Pasig City.

Among the items discussed were the Reunion finances, schedule of events, band, souvenir program, website, number of attendees, and family shirts.

The next meeting is tentatively scheduled for late December.

• 8:00 AM — Members of the Clan will meet at Lolo Mading’s place (Tay Bebing Kimpo’s Clinic) in Kalibo
• 8:30 AM — Mass at Numancia
• 10:00 AM — Wreath Laying at Numancia Cemetery
• 10:30 AM — Programme Proper in Kalibo

The reunion will be the third grand meetup of Kimpos from all walks of life and from every corner of the globe. The inaugural reunion took place at the turn of the new millennium (year 2000), and was aptly named the Y2Kimpo International Reunion (a play on “Y2K”, during the “millennium bug” scare). The second reunion was held four years later in 2004.

The reunion will coincide with the world-famous Ati-Atihan Festival, a wild and colorful homage to the Santo Niño and the Filipino spirit. The Kimpos’ home province of Aklan is also the proud mother of the Orient pearl known as Boracay.

In the months leading up to the reunion, we’ll be posting skeds, developments, and minutes of meetings. Even if you’re not a Kimpo, we hope you’ll enjoy this site and the upcoming Kimpo.ph portal. Let this site give you a peek into how the Kimpo Clan prepares for and celebrates its most joyous moment in four years.

Hala bira, puera pasma!

You can also reach him through his guestbook at Corsarius.net.

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This site was put up and is being maintained by Phillip Kimpo Jr., a published writer and poet, freelance writer, editor, and website manager; and Sophia Lucero, a freelance web designer, graphic design wizard, and Phillip’s partner-in-crime in many things. Visit their sites at Corsarius.net and Stellify.net, respectively.