|
Announcing the Biggest Event of
the Ocean in the Asia Pacific…
The 8th Celebrate the
Sea Festival 2009
12-14 June, Manila Ocean Park,
Philippines
A Mardi gras-like an
International Underwater Imagery Festival, a day to Celebrate!
Significantly
manifesting the official proclamation in 2008 by the President
of the Republic of the Philippines, Her Excellency, Gloria
Arroyo, who declared the month of June to be the Celebrate the
Sea month and the second Saturday in every June to be the
Celebrate the Sea Day.
Now into its 8th year,
the Celebrate the Sea Festival is confirmed for Manila this June
with the added fervour of being the 2nd official
Celebrate the Sea Day in the Philippines
The festival’s success in 2008
received participation from a global audience of novice and
professional competitors, children, nature and ocean lovers,
celebrated luminaries such as five times Emmy award winner, Stan
Waterman, National Geographic explorer Emory Kristof, founder of
the world Underwater Picture Festival Daniel Mercier, five times
world record free diving champion Frederic Buyle, to name but a
few. In collaboration with the Department of Tourism (DOT) and
the Philippines Commission on Sports Scuba Diving (PCSSD),
OceanNEnvironment looks forward to the biggest and most exciting
festival ever to be staged in the Asia Pacific.
Adding to the highlights of this
year’s activities, is the Mardi gras-like event of the ocean’s
flora and fauna which will be gaily symbolised and paraded by
participants from all the provinces of the Philippines. “This is
the first ever mardi gras-like event of the sea that will be
filled with music and dancing in the streets of Roxas Boulevard,
to the soul and rhythmic beat of the unique spirit of the
Filipino people, that never fails to leave a fun-filled and
lasting memory”.,assured Under Secretary, Cynthia Carrion.
Confirmed to attend the 2009 festival, are international
luminaries and underwater photography legends from the National
Geographic, David Doubilet and Jennifer Hayes, BBC’s Blue Planet
& Planet Earth Cinematographer Peter Scoone, deep sea explorer
and inventor Phil Nyutten PhD, coral spawning discoverer Carden
Wallace PhD and many more associates of the Ocean Geographic
Society.
Celebrate the Sea has seen the
greatest increase in competitors since its inception in 2002
with over 5500 entries from 38 countries in 2008. The 2009
festival is destined to be bigger and bolder than ever before.
The main venue for the 3-day festival, from 12 to 14 June is
once again, the landmark at Manila Bay’s foreshore, the Manila
Ocean Park, the Philippines’ first state-of-the-art Oceanarium
comprising of an open water marine habitat, boutique mall, and
restaurants.
With the Philippines as our role
model, being the first ever to declare an official day to
celebrate the sea, the primary objective of the festival still
remains: to have every country in the world dedicate a day to
remember and celebrate the sea - like a Christmas or a New Years
day. If and when it is achieved, then most certainly the current
dreadful state of the sea will have hope redeemed for the coming
generations of humanity. For now, Celebrate the Sea is the
biggest underwater picture festival outside of Europe where the
‘World Festival of Underwater Pictures’ (Festival Mondial de l'Image Sous Marine) is staged annually in
Antibes, France, now in its 36th year. Celebrate the
Sea festival is seen as the dominant platform to promote
conservation, marine tourism, providing education and
entertainment to create a greater awareness of our ocean
environment. The world’s best marine images and films have a
powerful effect on both the diving and non-diving community.
The 2009 festival will comprise of
imagery presentations and seminars by a panel of celebrated
underwater luminaries, image makers and marine scientists. One
of the principal highlights is the International Underwater film
festival; 15 recent award winning features from the World
Festival of Underwater Pictures, Antibes will be presented at
Celebrate the Sea. There will also be a photo exhibition of
benchmarked underwater images by some of the world's best
underwater photographers, including all the prints in the
competition.
CALL FOR ENTRIES
Photographers and films makers, send
in your entries now to compete in Asia Pacific's most
prestigious international underwater imagery competition where
the premier prize is the conferred title of ‘President,
Grand Award of Highest Achievement 2009’ with US$2000 as prize
money. (www.CelebratetheSea.com).
It gets even
better if you are visiting the Philippines any time from 15 Feb
to 15 May; stay or dive with one of the participating resorts /
operators and you will be eligible to enter your pictures in the
WOW Philippines Imagery competition.
You will be competing for one of
these prestigious titles:
The WOW Award – for the most
outstanding image
The Hi Five Award – for the highest
scoring or the most well balanced portfolio
The Quick Draw Award – for the best
action shot
There will be medals, cash,
equipment and holiday package prizes for all categories
including the WOW imagery competitors. The cash and holiday
prizes for the WOW Imagery competition is sponsored by the
Manila Ocean Park and supporting sponsors.
All winners qualify as contenders
for the ‘President
Grand Award of Highest Achievement 2009 with a cash prize of
USD2000. ROLEX is the main sponsor, supporting the hosting of Rolex’s ambassador.
For more info: email
cts@oneocean.com;
www.celebratethesea.com
The Celebrate the Sea Festival is a non-profit event funded and
produced by OceanNEnvironment Australia. The partner and
principal sponsors for 2009 are the Department of Tourism,
Philippines and PCSSD with Rolex continuing its unstinting
support as a major sponsor since the festival’s inception
|
