TACLOBAN CITY—Leyte’s Pintado–Kasadyaan, dubbed as “the festival of festivals” in Eastern Visayas, gathered nine festival contingents from various municipalities in the region.
Palo Mayor Remedios L. Petilla, chairman of the event, said the nine different festivals showcase the cultural and historical diversity of the region and highlights the uniqueness of each town.
Seven of the competing contingents are from Leyte, one from Samar and one from Biliran.
Petilla said this year’s grand champion will receive P750,000; the second-place winner, P500,000; and the third-place winner, P250,000. All the participating contingents will receive P50,000.
Kasadyaan, which means “merriment” in the Visayan dialect, plays an important role for it strengthens the sense of pride and portrays the local folklore and legends of the municipality.
The Pintados Festival is a cultural-religious celebration in the city and is based on the body-painting traditions of the ancient tattooed “pintados” warriors.
Vying in the Pintados are the Kaplag Festival of Mahaplag, Lubi-Lubi Festival of Calubian, Buraburon Festival of Burauen, Buyogan Festival of Abuyog and Maisayaw Festival of San Isidro.
The contingents for the Kasadyaan Festival are Tulo-usa Festival of Tolosa and Sanggutan Festival of Barugo, the defending champion.
The two contingents from outside Leyte province are Ibid Festival from Caibiran, Biliran and Patiklos Festival from Santa Rita, Samar.
“We decided to participate to showcase the rich culture and tradition of our town and, hopefully, this will also invite people to visit our place and experience what we can humbly offer,” said Mayor Eulalio Maderazo of Caibiran, the lone participant of Biliran province, which is joining the competition of festivals for the first time.
Caibiran is showing its Ibid festival, a tribute to the endangered ibid or monitor lizard, which abounds by the river near its earliest settlement. Caibiran means a place where there is plenty of ibid.
Petilla said she expects this year’s Pintados Kasadyaan Festival of Festivals to be more colorful, energetic and competitive, where nine festival contingents from various municipalities in the region will join the festivals.
The Pintados Festival, managed by Pintados Foundation Inc., was formed by Leyte province in celebration of Tacloban’s feast day of Senior Santo Niño.