Story & photos by Henrylito D. Tacio
DURING the month of August last year, Austrians David Schmidt and Dian Altin came to Davao City after hearing so much about Mindanao’s main metropolis back in their native country. They wanted to find out if the stories they read in the papers and heard from their compatriots who came before them were true.
From the airport, they went straight to their hotel at the heart of the city. When asked whether they were in for the Kadayawan sa Dabaw, they were caught by surprise.
“We never heard of it until we checked in,” Altin said. “The receptionist informed us that the hotel was fully booked because of the festivities that were going on.”
So the following day, they asked around where the merrymaking would happen. The hotel staff gave them directions.
“It was very beautiful and colorful,” confirmed Schmidt, a first-timer in Davao, of the street dancing. “I liked the rhythm, the music, the vibrancy and the people. We [had] too much fun there.”
Americans, Australians, Chinese, British, Germans, Japanese and Koreans, like the two Austrians, are just some of the foreigners who flock to Davao City during the month of August. They have one thing in mind: to join the locals in celebrating Mindanao’s “festival of all festivals,” the Kadayawan…
In its 33rd year, more tourists—foreigners, locals from various parts of the country and those from neighboring areas—are expected to witness a more grandiose festivity.
Longer, more exciting
ACCORDING to the head of the City Tourism Office (CTO) Generoso Tecson, those who come to Davao’s capital can experience and enjoy a longer festival that will now feature more exciting activities. From the original seven events, it has added eight more—including the Kadayawan Village that will showcase the 11 tribes of Davao City.
“The peak season for tourist arrivals in the city is usually in August, so we expect to attract more visitors, given the city’s increasing popularity not only in the Philippines, but also in other parts of the globe,” Tecson confirmed.
Since 2016, tourist arrivals during the Kadayawan have increased considerably. From 171,852 visitors in 2016, it went up to 185,660 in 2017.
The rise in the number of attendees last year, Tecson confirmed, erased doubts of the city’s ability to attract people even with the declaration of martial law all over Mindanao.
The CTO is expecting about 200,000 foreign and local tourists to flock during festivities, particularly from August 11 to 18—so much so that a budget of P44 million has been allotted for the celebration. About P12 million of the huge budget will come from the city government; private-sector partners will provide the rest.
All told, this will be the biggest festival ever to be staged in the biggest city of the country.
Other added attractions include the Kadayawan Ball: a tribal-inspired fashion dinner-dance where the city’s 11 tribes will compete against each other, and Kosplay Kadayawan: a contest for the younger generation of Davao to exhibit their creativity and imagination in coming up with outfits inspired by their iconic endemic raptor, the Philippine eagle.
The usual features like Hiyas sa Kadayawan (which will be held on August 11), Tunog Kadayawan, Mugna Kadayawan and Dula Kadayawan are still included in the lineup of activities.
The most anticipated events, however, are the Indak-indak sa Kadalanan (street dancing) and Pamulak sa Kadawayan (floral float parade). The street dancing is usually held on a Saturday, where contingents from various parts of Mindanao display their award-winning choreographies with dancing following the rhythm of their music and sounds as they move together in a precise manner, while flashing their colorful costumes and attires.
Pamulak ends the festivities. It is patterned after the Pasadena Parade of Roses in the US, where flowers and fruits are set in colorful floats by business establishments, community assemblies and peoples’ organizations as they promenade on the streets to symbolize all the bounty sustainably enjoyed by the city’s residents.
‘Celebration of life’
IT has been 33 years since Kadayawan was launched in 1985.
“With this year’s Kadayawan, let us show the world what Davao City and Dabawenyos have to offer,” said Mayor Sara Duterte during the launch of the festivity. “Come [and] witness the colors of Kadayawan and experience the best of Davao City.”
Kadayawan is derived from the Mandaya word madayaw, which means “good, valuable, superior, or beautiful.” The festival is structured as “the celebration of life—a thanksgiving for the gifts of nature, the wealth of culture, the bounties of harvest and serenity of living.”
The grand city-wide revelry showcases the diverse color, culture and unification of the tribes that inhabit the city. At one time, the festival’s theme was “Ten Tribes, One Vibe.” Later on it was discovered that there were actually 11 tribes in Davao, namely, Iranun, Sama, Bagobo-Klata, Bagobo-Tagabawa, Maguindanaon, Kagan, Matigsalog, Maranao, Ata, Tausug and Ovu Manubo.
In the beginning ethnic tribes lived together harmoniously, in peace and friendship. They were the ones who gave the province its name: Davao came from the term daba-daba, which means fire.
According to history, Davao’s ethnic tribes residing at the foot of Mount Apo would converge during a bountiful harvest. This ritual serves as their thanksgiving to the gods, particularly to Manama—the Supreme Being.
In the 1970s then-Mayor Elias B. Lopez initiated tribal festivals that featured the lumad (natives) and the Muslim tribes of Davao City, where they showcased their dances and rituals of thanksgiving.
The city government, in the mid-1980s, launched a program called “Unlad Proyekto Davao,” whose main objective was to unite Dabawenyos after the turbulent martial-law era.
The festivity was called Apo Duwaling, after the three “royalties” for which Davao is famous for: Mount Apo, durian (the fruit which, according to most who have sampled it, “smells like hell, yet tastes like heaven…”), and the waling-waling—one of the world’s most beautiful orchids and is now the country’s second flower-icon after the sampaguita.
In 1988 then-Mayor Rodrigo Roa Duterte renamed the festival as Kadayawan sa Dabaw. Today the festival is known not only in Mindanao but in other parts of the country, as well.
“As the longest-running community festival in Mindanao, Kadayawan has metamorphosed into a grand celebration that honors Davao’s rich cultural heritage and the many blessings bestowed on the city,” commented the CTO.
“I consider Kadayawan as the ‘festival of festivals’ since it has the most number of cultural activities compared to others in the country,” opined Serapio Metilla, who is from Manila and had seen the festival several times. “There’s dancing in the streets, the floral float parade, horse fight, durian festival, cultural minorities encounter, flower and garden shows, and many other activities that other parts of the country could not show.”
Vice Mayor Dr. Bernard E. Al-ag Jr. summed up the contributions of Kadayawan in three areas: tourism (“It establishes Davao City as a primary tourist destination in our country”); economy (“It increases the income of our city and the tourism sector”); and culture (“It showcases our rich heritage and unity in diversity”).
“But most of all,” Al-ag said, “[Kadayawan] gives Davao City the reputation of [being] an abundant, peaceful and progressive city.”
Image credits: Henrylito D. Tacio