Newly-elected Mayor of Cavite City, Denver Reyes Chua, expressed his vision of making the festival one of the tourist attractions of the historic city in the northwestern part of the province of Cavite, occupying a small peninsula that juts out into Manila Bay.
“Napakarami po ng mga makasaysayang pangyayari dito na dapat niyong ma-discover, dapat niyong mapuntahan (There are so many historic events here that you should discover and visit),” he enthused.
He also boasted about the water festival: “Dito po matatagpuan ang pinakamahabang sprinkler na nakalatag sa kalye. Over 1,000 meters na mga sprinkler ang aming inihanda para po sa ating Regada Water Festival na matatagpuan po sa kahabaan ng P. Burgos Avenue. Ito po iyung isa sa pinakamasayang basaan sa buong Filipinas (Here you will find the longest sprinkler system laid out on the streets. We have prepared over 1,000 meters of sprinklers for our Regada Water Festival, located along P. Burgos Avenue. This is one of the happiest water dousing events in the entire Philippines).”
The Regada Festival is a modern-day touristic event, which many tend to conflate with the actual Feast Day of San Juan Bautista or Saint John the Baptist, observed in many towns and cities all over the Philippines.
The feast day, locally called fiesta, is a religious observance and ritual, held by the Catholic church and the communities for one day, but the festival is held by the local government for several days and tends to be secular involving parties and other fun-filled activities and also often cultural, promoting local culture and heritage.
The Philippine traditional fiestas, most of which are practiced for centuries, are marked by a religious procession led by the image of the patron saint, and veneration may take different forms including dancing. For San Juan Bautista, the image and the participants are doused with water by residents in areas where the procession passes through to commemorate the baptism of Jesus Christ. According to folk beliefs, the dousing of water washes away bad luck and brings blessings.
The most popular San Juan fiesta is that of San Juan City in Metro Manila. In recent years, its city government invented the Wattah Wattah Festival, coinciding with the feast day and borrowing the fiesta practice of water dousing. It is also apparent that another inspiration for this is the world-famous Songkran, the new year celebration of Thailand, known for its water-dousing revelry.
San Juan Bautista is not the patron saint of Cavite City itself but two of its numerous barangays, which hold the Caracol ni San Juan Bautista, a fluvial procession that carries the image of the saint through the bay and into the city. The fiesta also served as inspiration for the creation of Regada Festival, which is on its 26th staging this year and is held from 13 to 24 June every year. It is also borrowed elements from the traditional fiesta, including the folk beliefs associated with it.
“Kapag nabasa ka po ng tubig sa Regada Water Festival, sa ating mga sprinkler ay suswertehin ka po, magkakaroon ka ng magandang at maraming blessing, magkakaroon ng malakas na pangangatawan, mahuhugasan ang bad luck sa ating mga katawan. Ito po ay sa kadahilanan na ang ating tubig na gamit sa ating Regada Water Festival ay na-bless po ng ating simbahan (When you get soaked by the water from our sprinklers during the Regada Water Festival, you’ll be blessed with good fortune, receive many blessings, and enjoy good health. It’s also believed to wash away bad luck from your body. This is because the water used in our Regada Water Festival has been blessed by our church),” Chua revealed.
The first Regada Festival was held in 1996. The name was derived from the Spanish word, which means “watered” or “doused with water.” According to city officials, this year’s festival, which has the theme “Water You Waiting For? Basaan na!” has become bigger and livelier.
The festival opened on 13 June with the Salvo Street Party on Julian Felipe Boulevard, featuring local bands, The Rider’s Band, Virtuoso, I See Bees, Nemic, Sixpar, Spirit of the Grass, Ketamines, Owl’s Night, MCDVLR, and Bivanne and the Orthodox Benevolent Omnipotence.
Other events included Linis Dalampasigan, a coastal cleanup activity, in Barangay 30, formerly known as Bid-bid, on 15 June; the Juego Caviteño, tournament of traditional games, at Unlad Pier on 17 June to encourage young people to engage in physical activities and know games such as Chinese garter, tumbang-preso, luksong-tinik, sipa, holen, piko, sack race, luksong-baka, bato-bato-pik and juego de anillo; the Exhibicion del Artes, an arts exhibit, at Samonte Park on 18 June; the Dampa Cooking Competition at Mercado de Cavite on 19 June; Miss Gay Regada 2025 pageant at Unlad Amphitheater, which was also in celebration of LGBTIQ+ Pride Month, on 20 June; the oath-taking of the newly-elected city officials on 21 June; the Regada Photography Contest; and the basaan on 24 June.
While the place of this wet revelry in the city’s heritage is contentious, may it open the doors for visitors to look deeper into its history and real heritage.
