7 Things You Should Know About Regada Water Festival

For the people of Cavite City, June is not just the month when classes are being resumed but also the month when one of the city’s highly anticipated festivals is being celebrated ~ The Regada! Regada Water Festival is one of the most colorful , wildest and possibly the “wettest” festivals in the province of Cavite and here are ten things you might want to know about it!
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1. A Yearly Celebration In Cavite City

Regada Water Festival is a traditional water festival celebrated annually in the small city of Cavite. It is being held every 24th of June to honor the feast day of Saint John The Baptist.  It is more like the Cavite City’s version of those well-established water festivals in nearby provinces including the well known Wattah Wattah in San Juan Batangas (1969) which is celebrated on the same day but despite of sharing a lot of similarities, Regada Water Festival is special on its own right and offers a bunch of activities for Caviteños to enjoy. The festival started in 1996 during the term of the late mayor Tim Encarnacion and since then, it has become one of the most festive events traditionally celebrated in Cavite City. This year marks the 22nd anniversary of Regada and they are going to celebrate it with a bang with overwhelming amount of activities and events!
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2. The Origin of Regada

In San Juan Batangas, the term Wattah Wattah just came up in early 2000 during the term of JV Ejercito which is obviously came from a slang term of “water” while Regada has a more interesting origin. The term Regada came from a Spanish word “Regar” which means to pour , to water or to sprinkle. The use of Spanish term is not really new to the people of Cavite City as they were known for the Chavacano dialect which is often referred as the “Tagalized-Spanish”. It is very interesting to note that Chavacano is the only Spanish-based creole in Asia and  one of the oldest creole languages in the world.

3. A Week Long Celebration

This yearly tradition is often associated with several water festivities and it is usually a week-long celebration. The festival usually kick off with Mardigras followed by the colorful street dance and parade the next day. Other notable events includes the “Linis Dalampasigan” , “Kulay at Tubig” and many more. The highlight of the celebration is the 24th where the so-called “Basayawan” will take place in the morning which will be followed by the Karakol for Saint John The Baptist. Regada is being welcomed by the people of Cavite City in a very festive way. The tables are often filled with many dishes, videoke machines and parties can be spotted anywhere!
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4. Sprinklers and Basayawan

The highlight of the festival is the so-calledf Basayawan where people splash water to anyone whether they are strangers or not but what really makes this Basayawan a lot more special is the long sprinkler installation which stretches more than a kilometer long along the P. Burgos Avenue. The sprinklers will be activated from  time to time in the entire course of the celebration along with the sound system which transform the P Burgos Avenue into a huge wet party. Underneath the sprinklers are huge crowd of people dancing and participating in many activities held by different stage or booths. The activation of sprinklers is usually done after the colorful parades and street dance participated by different schools, barangays and more. Costume parades are also part of the celebration where participants are encouraged to wear recycled materials! The colorful the better!

5. Celebrities and Bands

Of course, Regada Water Festival will not be completed without the guess celebrities and bands who will join Caviteños in celebrating this coloful festival. The festivals have been featured numerous times in many television programs including Unang Hirit, Umagang Kay Ganda, It’s Showtime and Eat Bulaga. Some celebrities who have been part of the celebration includes Maria Ozawa , Mocha Girls and bands like Rivermaya , Silent Sanctuary and more!
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6. From Waterguns to Firetrucks!

If you are planning to attend this festival, then better arm yourself with a gun ~ a water gun! Expect that random people will shoot you with their squirt guns with various shapes and sizes and I bet you wouldn’t want to leave without them paying back! Arm yourself with the biggest squirt guns or better yet splash them with a pail of water! This celebration will not be completed without you getting wet and if water guns are not enough, don’t worry because firetrucks are there to rescue! Fire fighters will take a quick break to celebrate with this festival. They can be spotted from one block to another and they will splash water directly from the firetruck water host from time to time!
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7. This Festival Is Not For Cranky!

Regada Water Festival is a special holiday in Cavite City. Well not really official but most students and employees will not dare to go out sporting their uniforms because most people will not take any consideration whether you have work or not. In fact, seeing you in uniform will provoke them even more to splash you water and they will never allow you to leave without getting wet. Well, this festival has one important rule to follow “Bawal ang Pikon” so if you are going to work and get ambushed somewhere and someone splashed you a pail of water, you should keep your temper down and just enjoy the day.. this event is not for cranky people after all!
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UPDATE: Here is the Schedule of activities for REGADA WATER FESTIVAL 2018
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2 thoughts on “7 Things You Should Know About Regada Water Festival

  • June 5, 2017 at 4:41 pm
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    This is so much fun. Even just looking at these photos, I feel like I’m there celebrating.

    Reply
  • July 13, 2017 at 10:26 am
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