Kadayawan Festival is known as the
King of all Festivals and is widely popular among tourists; local and international. With its 28th year of celebration,
Kadayawan Festival 2013 has a theme "
Ten Tribes, One Vibe" honoring the 10 tribes in Davao City namely the Ata, Matigsalug, Ovu-Manuvo, Klata-Djangan, Tagabawa, Tausog, Maguindanao, Maranao, Kagan, and Sama.
"Though diverse in cultures, traditions and beliefs, these tribes are
very much connected by a common origin that binds them together as one
and the same…an origin that traces to the very core of the history of
Davao City." source: kadayawan.com
Despite the issues that had happened these past few months due the series of
bomb explosions occurred in Cagayan de Oro, Cotabato and Midsayap, Mayor Duterte decided to push through the festival ensuring the people's safety with the city's tightened security measures. There were policemen roaming around in every corner of the street, inspecting every stuff you were carrying. Yes, that's how strict the security forces were. They even forbid carrying a backpack within the days of celebration. It was totally annoying to open your bag in every turn for checking but I know it was for our own safety. (img src:
jeff psj)
During the
Indak-Indakan (Street Dancing) activity, we weren't able to see the participant's live performance as we couldn't go through the bunch of people lining up ahead of us. Fortunately, we had the chance to see them on the other side of the street preparing for their turn to perform. We had the time to take pictures with them :) It was really tough and the weather was pretty hot but we didn't mind it as we were thoroughly enjoying the festival. It was exhausting yet fun!
I was very glad the Kadayawan Festival went well peacefully. However, the number of people attending the festival was drastically reduced compared before. No thanks to those hopeless bomb threats :(
Regardless, we definitely had a blast! Thanks to my very enthusiastic room mate for dragging me along! =)
