Panagtagbo at Kadayawan 2011

Kadayawan is one festival I’ve been wanting to see ever since. It’s because of the rich cultural experiences this festival offers to tourists—it celebrates the rich diversity of life in Davao City, including the communities of indigenous peoples. Every Kadayawan, tribes living in the mountains, near rivers and lakes converge in the city to join in the festivities. Thank heavens a member of the working class like me can now afford a roundtrip ticket to Davao and see for myself why Kadayawan is touted as the ‘king of festivals’.

The term kadayawan, according to the festival’s official website, comes from the Mandaya word ‘madayaw’, which is “a warm and friendly greeting used to explain a thing that is valuable, superior, beautiful, good, or profitable.”

Held annually during the second to third week of August, the Kadayawan Festival gathers everyone to celebrate and give thanks to a bountiful harvest. However, this year did not bring a good harvest to farmers because of the successive heavy rains that hit the city. Nonetheless, tradition calls for celebration. Instead of highlighting the bountiful harvest, the organizers put a spotlight on the indigenous peoples. As this year’s Kadayawan’s tagline goes, “Ten tribes, One Vibe.”

Having arrived late for the festival (it was Thursday already), the first event I attended was the Panagtagbo, where eleven tribes showcased their culture through music and dance. It was held in Rizal Park under the early afternoon sun. My friends and I arrived when the second group of performers was almost finished. Probably because of the heat and lack of shade from the sun, only a few people were there. But as the show went on, the crowd gradually swelled that included local photographers, foreign tourists and local ones.

One unexplainable thing happened while my friends and I were watching Panagtagbo. During the Maranao performance, a young man and a young woman were chanting in their native dialect, supposedly concerning courtship. Without warning, tears swelled in my eyes. I did not even understand what they were chanting! When I turned to my friend, he was also in tears! And did I say we were under the merciless sun?

They made me, my friend and other members of the audience cry!

 A lump in my throat was also there when an old man from another tribe played the flute in solo performance. Seeing children and tribal elders, Christianized tribes and Muslim tribes in one stage (despite the hideous red background courtesy of a major soda sponsor) warms the heart of a sentimental like me. Beautiful things were there in one stage at the same time and place--life, peace, culture, identity and art.

I was so determined to watch Panagtagbo that I asked my friends if I could stay and watch instead of going with them to Crocodile Park. So there I was, under the merciless heat of the sun, blanketed by an air filled with afternoon sweat, and without any shield against all these.

Although I stood for almost four hours straight, I immensely enjoyed the performances. I especially liked the fact that the tribe members were the ones who performed the dances. Those I previously saw were performed by trained folk dancers. The indigenous peoples who performed have a natural talent in creating music and in dancing—a distinct kind of movements that follow the rhythm and beat of music. I could not take my eyes off the performers because I was just amazed at seeing them perform--for free!

Almost all the tribes used similar musical instruments, particularly the kulintang and agong. In some tribes, young people play them, while in some the elders do it like youngsters do, if not more energetically. Either way, I felt a sense of awe as the drumbeats pulsate in my body, its rhythm inviting me to dance.

As with music, similarities in the dances of tribes were also apparent. One is the use of malong as central in the dances. These also depicted tribal practices such as courtship, livelihood, and protection of their land and its resources. The dancers, on the other hand, comprising of more or less 20, moved with such energy. Some tribes highlighted delicate movements of body, particularly the hand. When they dance, it seems that they’re harnessing nature’s energy.

Children performing traditional dances

Young women from Maranao tribe

Young men can dance, too!

Most performances have both young and old musicians and dancers. Based on the introduction made by tribe members before their performance starts, they say they make it a point to teach their ways of life to the young ones. This sounds good, and it was nice to see young people in the tribes participating in such cultural event even though some of them have obviously been influenced by urban living.

Even though the performances were relatively long based on the short attention span of most media-fed urbanites, they stayed to see and appreciate the performances the IPs prepared. It was a joy to witness such a cultural event. With their indigenous ways of life, the IPs bear the core of Filipino culture. Seeing them is like seeing my core, that thing you always come back to when life seems to have thrown so much to bury it.

Photo Credits: Pamela Custodio