San Carlos City's Pintaflores Festival

Aside from the celebration of Negros Day or the Cinco de Noviembre, another important event is celebrated in San Carlos City, the Pintaflores Festival. The festival is also in celebration of the Feast of San Carlos de Borromeo, Patron Saint of San Carlos City, whose feast falls on November 4.

This First Class Component City of Negros Occidental celebrates the Pintaflores Festival every November 3-5. The highlight of the festival is a Streetdance and Ritual Competition on November 5. Here, streetdancers don colorful ethnic-inspired costumes and floral body tattoos. The floral body tattoos are reminiscent of the tattooed Visayans of pre-Spanish Negros. Upon the arrival of the Spanish settlement to the island of Negros, they discovered this unique tribal ritual of flower body tattooing and dubbed it as “Pintados de Flores” where the by-word Pintaflores is rooted.

There are two categories, the Open Invitational which is participated by cities and municipalities in Negros Island and the Pinta Bata which is participated by elementary schools. The streetdancing culminates in a ritual/showdown competition at the San Carlos City Auditorium.

A Search for Miss San Carlos City pageant ads glamor to the festival. The pageant likewise showcase the beauty of the Negrense women and the creativity of local designers in the colorful costumes of the contestants.

People who have experienced this colorful festival will surely attest that the costumes and synchronized movements of the contingents to the rhythmic beat of the drums and music will make them come again to witness the Pintaflores Festival.