IN an effort to draw more visitors to the walled city, a special tour has been organized that mixes history, Filipiñana fashion, and photography.
The tour — the Intramuros Filipiñana Tranviaganza — involves visiting the scenic sites of the Walled City while dressed in Filipiñana attire and having your picture taken. To be held on Sept. 3, the tour is organized by WanderManila, Renacimiento Manila, The Heritage Collective, Don’t Skip Manila, and AKIM / Manila Girls.
“We’ve known for quite a bit that we need to introduce new elements and gimmicks to our Intramuros tour and staging a costume tour seemed like a fun experiment we were all excited to try. Simply put, if you can avail of costume service in other countries, why not Manila? Why not Intramuros? We really want to start (or restart) this trend,” Head Tour Guide of WanderManila Benjamin Canapi told BusinessWorld on Messenger.
“This tour is open to all demographics, as long as they’re game to do a bit of a dress-up. With that said, this would a great way to introduce Intramuros to kids,” he added.
While outfits will be made available for rent, guests can opt to come dressed in their own Filipiñana outfits.
They can choose from four tour schedules on Sept. 3 — 8 a.m., 10 a.m., 2 p.m., and 4 p.m. A maximum of 20 registered guests can ride the blue tranvia (streetcar) per schedule.
As of this writing, Mr. Canapi said that the 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. timeslots are still open.
The blue tranvia will stop at five major destinations: the Manila Cathedral, San Agustin Church, the Plaza San Luis Complex, Baluarte de San Diego, and Fort Santiago.
Heading the tour alongside Mr. Canapi are Renacimiento Manila president Diego Torres, and Don’t Skip Manila founders Andre Julian and Anne Uy-Julian.
“While we’ll have guides on hand to talk about the sites, more time will be dedicated to the actual photo sessions,” Mr. Canapi said.
Joining the exploration of the walled city are official photographers who will e-mail the photographs a week after the tour. Participation will also include a goodie bag.
“We want people to start appreciating our Filipiñana costumes. They’re very beautiful and filled with history. We also want people to start thinking of their own ways to make their Intramuros experience more memorable,” Mr. Canapi said.
To register, visit https://forms.gle/bzmoA4Jb1KKhnDZ78. Ticket are P1,000 per head. — Michelle Anne P. Soliman