Ang Dabawenyo

This morning I was at a planning session for the promotions activities of the Kadayawan sa Dabaw festival. Marco Polo’s Art Boncato invited me just this morning to be a part of this committee. It was rather sudden and spur-of-the-moment, but I gladly obliged. I wouldn’t miss the chance of helping organize Davao’s own traditional festival.

I don’t want to jump the gun on the Kadayawan organizers, so I’m not going to divulge anything before the official announcements. But I would like to mention that this year is going to be different. For one thing, the younger generation is starting to take over the reins, and we’re bringing in fresh ideas.

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The past years’ Kadayawan sa Dabaw celebrations, it’s been thought, have veered away from the authentic spirit of this most important of Davao’s festivals. People have started talking about how ‘commercialized’ the Kadayawan has become over the years. And this probably explains the knee-jerk reaction by this year’s organizers — their unexpected move to change the festival’s schedule.

The city officials responsible for Kadayawan 2007 have reasoned that, since this festival is all about the harvest season, then it should be celebrated during the actual time of harvest, which is early August. This was monumentally unwise. But it’s a good thing that the festival highlights (the Indak-Indak and the floral float parade) were kept on the same period as usual (middle of August). Read more »

Lumadnong Kagikan, Mabungahong Kinaiyahan, Gasa sa Kahitas-an
(Ethnic Heritage, Bountiful Environment, Gifts from the Almighty)

The Kadayawan sa Dabaw will be formally opened at the brand-new Centennial Park on 8 August 2007, 5:30 PM. From the 8th to the culmination in mid-August, there will be various activities that will celebrate the Kadayawan festival around the city. Below, following the Kadayawan highlights, is a set of schedule of activities (tentative, as of 11 July).

Kadayawan Highlights

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