Butuan Beautiful

Festivals are a big thing in the Philippines. Every province seems to have a reason to come together and celebrate fiesta’s all year round. Cebu celebrates the Sinulog festival every January, Bacolod celebrates the Maskara Festival during the same month as well while Baguio celebrates the Panagbenga every Feburuary and Butuan, the province we moved to just last year, celebrates the Balangay festival every May.

The Balangay Festival celebrates the importance of the Balangay boats in Butuan, the prehistoric boats that were discovered in Butuan and date back to a time before Magellan discovered our islands. One of the major events that happen during this festival is the Mutya Hong Butuan, an event that celebrates the local beauties of Butuan. This year, Imagine Nation Photography was commissioned to be the official photographers of the Mutya Hong Butuan and we worked closely with the young designers of the city, making our shoot fashion forward savvy! The first set of photos showcases Bong Enriquez’ Summer/Spring look and the second set showcases the designers take on using local water hyancinth (water lily) and is a first in Mindanao.