Cultivating camaraderie, this year’s Ateneo UFest: Kislap gathered nine clusters, fostering solidarity across the Ateneo community.

The festivities opened with the Grand Parade, where the nine clusters marched from Rizal Park to the University’s Martin Hall, displaying their distinct colors and banners.

UFest 2026 overall event head and SAMAHAN Secretary-General Rana Nicole Guerra explained that KISLAP draws on the idea of individual sparks coming together to light up the Ateneo community.

“For me, Kislap: Lighting up the blue skies was a symbol of all brilliant individuals coming together. Each individual has their own spark, but when they come together, their collective brilliance lights up the blue skies, with the blue skies symbolizing the Ateneo community.”

Guerra also emphasized that Kislap builds on previous UFest themes while giving greater attention to the participants and the people working behind the scenes.

“Previous UFest themes have had their own identities and messages. Rather than making it ‘different,’ we wanted KISLAP to build on that. This year, we wanted to highlight the idea that UFest isn’t only about the big performances, competitions, or spectacles. It’s also about the people participating and the people behind the scenes…”

However, bringing together different clusters also came with its share of challenges. Guerra cited reconciling differences among participants and addressing lapses in the preparations as some of the most difficult parts of organizing the event.

“Perhaps the biggest challenge for me was ultimately situations where we had to come to common ground with everyone. There have been instances with the participating clusters that led to opposing opinions. There has been a lapse as well from our end that has led to that, and while trying to make a resolution, it was hard to come to a conclusion that was amenable to everyone.”

Hiyawan celebrates cluster pride and collective creativity 

After the parade, Hiyawan, a non-competitive dance-and-yell activity, energized the crowd with spirited chants and dynamic choreography, igniting enthusiasm and strengthening the sense of solidarity.

Social Sciences (SS) Cluster Representative and Hiyawan performer Franklein Jay Pesucan remarked that each cluster brought their own flair, praising the excellence and creativity of Ateneans. 

“Seeing the unique concepts between the clusters, it’s really, really great to see the creativity, the artistry, and the excellence of each Atenean, because Kislap for me is really a celebration where creativity is at the center stage,” Pesucan said.

Pesucan also said that this year’s Hiyawan showed how the different clusters overcame challenges through cooperation, delivering performances that expressed their cluster pride while bringing the Ateneo community together.

“Despite the hurdles during preparations, clusters were able to deliver the performance not only to show to the Ateneo community [the] identity of their cluster, but also to show that when people within our cluster unite and cooperate, we can deliver a performance that is not just about the shouts, and the yells, and the chants, and the music, but about being in solidarity with the whole Ateneo community.”

The festivities continued with Bandera, which featured banners exhibiting each cluster’s creativity, followed by Galanté, a dancesport competition that capped the opening day.

The opening ceremony for Kislap: The Ateneo UFest 2026 took place at 4F Martin Hall on October 14.