After 2 years, Kadayawan Festival is back!
As we enter the world again two years after the COVID 19 pandemic made us pause for a while and stay at home, celebrations of vibrant Filipino festivals are finally back! This 2022, Davao City pushed through its annual celebration of Kadayawan Festival, which is now celebrating its 37th year since the term was coined by then mayor Rodrigo Duterte.
The festival started on August 15 after almost a two-year hiatus. The festivities are ready to bring back joy and pride among Davao locals, and an exciting experience to try for tourists.! Of course, AirAsia wouldn’t miss the opportunity to join one of the major festivals in the Philippines. AirAsia now flies Manila to Davao 3x daily, and Cebu to Davao 4x a week!
The festival is celebrated with activities like street dances, gigantic float parades, good food of the city, and most importantly, highlighting the colorful culture of the 11 tribes of Davao.
Kadayawan Festival: Origin Story
The festival traces its roots from the 1970s. In these times, then mayor Elias B. Lopez encouraged the 11 tribes of Davao to showcase their thanksgiving rituals. Ethnic tribes then would do their rituals on the foot of Mt. Apo to pay respects to pagan nature gods Manama and Bulan for a successful planting and harvest season.
To further celebrate the bountiful harvests, people would display their crops, such as fruits, vegetables, flowers, grains, and more, to express gratitude for another fruitful year. Then during the turbulent times of Martial Law in 1986, the Davao LGU launched a project that aimed to unify and boost the morale of the people of Davao. It was then called Apo Duwaling, which highlights the city’s pride of natural wonders: Mt. Apo, which is the Philippines’ highest mountain, Durian, which is dubbed to be The King of Fruits that abundantly grows in the province and other nearby regions, Waling-Waling which has the title for Queen of Philippine Orchids, which is endemic in the island of Mindanao.
In 1988, then mayor and former President Rodrigo Duterte coined the term Kadayawan. The term is derived from the Dabawnon term Dayaw which means good, valuable, and beautiful. In Tagalog, it literally translates to Pagpapahalaga. From then on, the celebration was referred to as Kadayawan Festival.
What not to miss in Kadayawan?
Pamulak sa Kadayawan
Over the…
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