Jaehwa Bernardo

Hola, Escolta 2025 began its two-weekend celebration with street markets, block party and other street activities on November 22. Photos by Alessandra Reodique & Mary Rose Maligmat, ABS-CBN News Digital Interns

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Century-old heritage meets new art community in 'Hola Escolta!'

<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1764135710443[1] BANNER.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/>Hola, Escolta 2025 began its two-weekend celebration with street markets, block party and other street activities on November 22. Photos by Alessandra Reodique &amp; Mary Rose Maligmat, ABS-CBN News Digital Interns</div>MANILA — Vibrant colors and electric spirits surged along the historic streets of downtown Manila as &quot;Hola, Escolta!&quot; kicked off its annual two-weekend street festival in Escolta Street, Binondo district last November 22. With the theme “Of the streets and for the streets,” pedestrian-only spaces were implemented to accommodate street markets, busking performances, community workshops and other spontaneous street activities.For years, &quot;Hola, Escolta!&quot; has brought together artists, connoisseurs, and patrons. But beyond the color and buzz, the festival has also become a platform for broader advocacy work.Arts Serrano, the main visionary of &quot;Hola, Escolta!&quot; and architect of One/Zero Design Co., described the collective struggle of younger creatives to find spaces to thrive and express themselves, which propelled the objective of the annual event.“It’s also a good opportunity to really introduce kung ano ba ‘yong galing ng Filipino creatives,” he said.Each participating artist showcased their respective advocacies and stories through their creative works.They include Faye Pitpit, also known as F4YE, who produces mixed-media arts, photography, traditional illustrations and graphic designs.<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1764135750944[3] F4YE 1 (1).jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/>Photo by Mary Rose Maligmat, ABS-CBN News Digital Intern<img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1764135780902[4] F4YE 2 (1).jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/>Photo by Mary Rose Maligmat, ABS-CBN News Digital Intern</div>After joining Panday Sining in 2020, F4YE began blending her art with her advocacy, turning the stories of women, the queer community, and Filipino workers into whimsical stickers, prints and layouts. For F4YE, these artworks reflect the daily lives and struggles of people from different sectors.“Maipapakita natin dito na ang arts ay hindi lang arts, bagkus ito ay pwedeng makatulong sa komunidad para ma-push natin ‘yong national industrialization for arts,” she told ABS-CBN News. <div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1764135809082[5] BUHAY BOHEMIAN - BENG RAGON.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/>Photo by Alessandra Reodique, ABS-CBN News Digital Intern</div><div>Sustainability</div>Meanwhile, Beng Ragon runs Buhay Bohemian, a store full of vintage and bohemian-inspired upcycled accessories and artworks, aimed at promoting sustainability.Inspired by her mother’s hippie fashion from the late 1960s, Ragon adopted the bohemian style and incorporated it into her advocacy that birthed her current works. Her handmade bracelets are crafted from chunky loose beads salvaged from broken jewelry and buttons from old clothing, while her anklets and necklaces are designed as multi-purpose pieces that double as key holders.Ragon also turns her captured film photos of places and interesting subjects into stickers. The film negatives that she uses are cut into pieces and transformed into earrings while the cases of the rolls are remade as keychains.<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1764135851683[8] EDWIN 1 (1).jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/>Tondo-based jeepney signage artist Edwin Tayao. Photo by Mary Rose Maligmat, ABS-CBN News Digital Intern</div><div>Jeepney signage art</div>Another featured artist is Edwin Tayao, whose jeepney signage art has gained traction on social media. Once at risk due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which halted public transportation, and the government’s public utility vehicle modernization program, the craft seemed in peril. But Tayao has found a new audience at &quot;Hola, Escolta&quot; for his jeepney signage art, a two-decade-old business he inherited from his father.“Kung tutuusin… ‘yong mga ganitong art na gawa, nawawala na. [...] Dahil sa kanila, nabubuhay ulit ‘yong art, at nagkakaroon ng kulay ulit,” he said.<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1764135869046[10] SIT FIRST (1).jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/>Sit First at the First United Building in Escolta. Photos by Alessandra Reodique &amp; Mary Rose Maligmat, ABS-CBN News Digital Intern</div><div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1764135912506[13] SIT FIRST 4 (1).jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/></div>On the fourth floor of the First United Building in Escolta, visitors can find Sit First, a passion project by industrial designer Clark Mendoza and architect Mika Burbano.The project spearheads Bangko Bangko Bangko, an eight-step interactive furniture-making workshop.Sit First encourages people to sit and construct their concept of what a chair is by weaving retaso sourced from basahan productions to frames made out of readily available scrap materials. With minimal guidance, creativity is allowed to flourish.The resulting bangko reflects sustainability — repurposing items that would otherwise be discarded.“It’s really an invitation of creativity, play, and it&#x27;s my way of sharing the craft of weaving [na] ‘di ko siya dinidictate,” said Mendoza.

Vibrant colors and electric spirits surged along the historic streets of downtown Manila as 'Hola, Escolta!' kicked off its annual two-weekend street festival in Escolta Street, Binondo district last November 22.

Vibrant colors and electric spirits surged along the historic streets of downtown Manila as 'Hola, Escolta!' kicked off its annual two-weekend street festival in Escolta Street, Binondo district last November 22.

Century-old heritage meets new art community in 'Hola Escolta!'

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Century-old heritage meets new art community in 'Hola Escolta!'

Alessandra Reodique and Mary Rose Maligmat,

ABS-CBN News Digital Interns

Published Nov 27, 2025 09:00 AM PHT

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