PINOY PERYA The tradition of ‘Perya’ or ‘Feria’ in Spanish (‘fair’ in English) was brought in by the Spaniards in the 19th Century. ‘Feria’s’ are held in most Spanish towns and pueblos a week before the fiesta. It started as a livestock and agriculture fair, where travelling traders would bring in their wares in a make-shift market fair in time for the coming festival, which are often held after harvest season when the town-folks have some extra cash to spare. The ‘perya’ soon reached the Philippine soil. By the end of the Spanish era, travelling fairs have become a tradition during fiestas. Traders selling anything from ceramics to clothes to live poultry and pigs would line the streets leading to church tempting the locals to spend their savings on they will need to celebrate the fiesta. In the evenings, there would be festivities where Spanish-Filipino games such as Palosebo, Juego de Anilo or Juego de Prenda would be played. When the American arrived at the start of the 20th Century, the traditional ‘perya’ became bigger, noisier, and even more colourful. The biggest influence in this change is the fabled Manila Carnival held from 1908 to 1938. Originally conceptualized by the American colonial captain named Langhorne to build a cockpit and to exhibit “half-naked” Igorots, it was later changed to showcase Philippine-American progress in the islands. For thirty years during the American occupation, the Manila Carnival became the grandest of all festivals in the Far East. For two weeks every summer, the old Wallace Field (now part of Luneta Park) would be enclosed in decorative sawali mats and brightly lighted and adorned. Inside, a variety of shows such as circus, vaudevilles, slapstick comedies, and beauty contests would be presented. On the last night of carnival, the famed Manila Carnival Queen would be declared based on the highest number of subscription sold by each candidate. To keep the crowds occupied, there were also trade fairs and plenty of mechanical rides inside the carnival. It was during the Manila Carnival that the ‘perya’ staples made their first appearance in the Philippines. The Ferris Wheel or the ‘arrueda’ and the Merry-Go-Round or ‘chubibo’ were brought in by the Americans, and they became instant hits. Soon after, no carnival would be complete without the ‘arrueda’ or ‘chubibo’. Enterprising Filipino soon started making their own packet carnivals, and this evolved into what is now the modern Pinoy ‘Perya’. They studied carefully those imported ‘arrueda’ and ‘chubibo’ and using Filipino ingenuity copied them meticulously using local materials such as discarded diesel engines to power the rides, and with frames made from round bars and passenger cars made from steel sheets. Nowadays, there are still a few dozens ‘perya’ groups or families who go around the islands, moving from town to town, fiesta to fiesta, festival to festival. They carry with them everything – from generators to power the whole fair to dis-assembled Ferris Wheel or Octopus so that they can be ferried in trucks to all the people involved in setting up the ‘perya’.
Posted on: Tue, 28 Oct 2014 11:39:35 +0000
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