The season of festivals in the Philippines isn’t over yet as the City of Generals celebrate Kalilangan Festival 2013!

Kalilangan is the city’s carrier event for its Foundation Anniversary celebration showcasing the city’s history, artistry, cultural heritage and tourism potentials.

Kalilangan Festival: National Best Tourism Event 2011 & 2012

In October last year, General Santos City’s Kalilangan Festival was declared Best Tourism Event in Culture and Arts Category. This was the second time the event bagged the same award following the preceding year.

Queue of Photographers Capturing the Event

No wonder thousands of tourists flock to watch this most anticipated festivity in the tuna capital of the Philippines – General Santos City.

Kadsagayan Street Dancing Competition

The main streets of Heneral Santos are once again flooded with people, colors and festive dancers on the afternoon of February 27, 2013.

Adventuroj along with my buddies joined in the merriment with our SLRs on hand in capturing memories of this once in a lifetime event.

A little something about Kalilangan

Kalilangan is derived from the rootword “Kalilang” which typically means celebration or commemoration in the Maguindanaon dialect.

In a broader perspective, kalilang projects a positive and dynamic meaning for it engulfs the artistic, humane and altruistic aspects of social interaction that takes place in any occasion or celebration.

Kalilangan means festival, feastivity or jubilee. It is a social gathering marked by exchanging of amenities among traditional leaders, elders, allies and subordinates in varying tones.

It is also a pageantry of unique and colorful ethnic rites, rituals and traditions like marriage celebrations, religious ceremonies, anniversaries, funerals, enthronement of royal dignitaries, thanksgiving and other social forms of social, political and economic activities.

Kalilangan Festival 2013 Photos

“Kadsagayan” or the glamorous street dance parade portrays the traditional tri-people’s dances.

This year 6 participants compete for the crown. Here they are:

May your eyes enjoy the feast and parade of photos and color!

Participant No 1

Participant No 2: Sambulayang Cultural Dance Troupe of Sultan Kudarat

Participant No 3: Pedro Acharon Sr. Central Elementary School

Participant No 4: Binandisan Performing Arts Group from Maguindanao

Participant No 5: Indak Kabataan Performing Arts

Participant No 6

Now who do you think will win?

Kalilangan Festival 2013 Winners

Kadsagayan 2013 Champion

Binandisan Performing Arts Group from Buluan, Maguindanao was declared overall champion in the Kadsagayan Streetdance competition 2013 at the Oval Plaza Wednesday, February 27. The group bagged P150,000 cash, a trophy and certificate of participation.

Perfectly depicting the theme: “Tri-People in Unity, Excellence in Harmony.” among the Indigenous Peoples (IPs), Muslims and the Christian populations

Kadsagayan 2013 1st Runner-up

Contingents from Pedro Acharon Elementary School was declared 1st Runner-up. The group bagged P100,000 cash, a trophy and certificate of participation.

Kadsagayan 2013 2nd Runner-up

Contingents from General Santos City National Secondary School of Arts and Trade Indak Kabataan Performing Arts was declared 2nd Runner-up. The group bagged P75,000 cash, a trophy and certificate of participation.

Kalilangan is a noble tradition. It is a complete work of art nourished and nurtured by a rich cultural heritage that has withstand the test of time from generation to generation. Indeed a portrayal of a culture that is only in General Santos!

Until next year Kalilangan!

A Call for Kalilangan Organizers

One thing that I’ve just noticed is that although the Kalilangan Celebration is a week long event, however the Street Dancing competition, which is the highlight of the festivity, falls on a weekday, February 27, making it almost impossible for other interested tourists to be at the festival due to work constraints.

Also, the competition is set to start at 1pm.. just after lunch..

Just imagine the blazing heat of the sun that the spectators and the dancers have to endure to witness the event? Unlike most of the festivals in the Philippines that I know that starts their street dancing early in the morning or in the evening (like the Hinugyaw) to avoid getting sun burnt.

Just take a look at these dancers, in their faces reflects the heat they have to endure.

I’m sure they’re one with me in this call.. Hopefully next year will be a better and should I say cooler one? Haha

About Agten Tufi Festival

Agten Tufi Festival, a thanksgiving celebration of Beauty and Bounty, is a convergence of various ethnic and cultural dances featuring Tupi as the province’s flower, fruit and vegetable basket and a place where various cultures abode. Held every September 11 in celebration of the town’s foundation anniversary.

For more than a decade, the Municipality of Tupi had been holding” Kasadyahan Festival” as a celebration of its foundation anniversary. Usual to the celebration were replications of the practices of other festivals that it loses its real essence as to creating its own identity, reflective of the aspirations of the Municipality of Tupi as a people. The festival name Kasadyahan is generic to fiestas in the Visayan regions –its literal meaning, ‘merriment’, had been misconceived as a reason for escapism from the stark realities of life and governance because as a whole concept, there is no relevant, more so, pertinent reason for celebration but just that, to celebrate in grandiose pomp and pageantry.

The proposal to rename Tupi’s festival is one executive effort to redirect the visions of governance towards more meaningful celebration of its foundation anniversary. The creation of a concept based on social realities such as cultural heritage and its cultural assets could well define what direction the Municipality takes as it identifies the reason why it has to celebrate – a festival that gives weight to the programs of government, the aspirations of its people, the history of its constituents that creates a holistic showcase of the tri-partite relationship between social/cultural, political and economic institutions as pillars of development.

Why Agten Tufi?

Beautiful Tupi

Agten Tufi is from Blaan etymology meaning “beautiful or bountiful Tupi”. Considering its cultural history, Tupi (tufi), along with Koronadal (kolon datal), Polomolok (flom molok) and Tampakan (tamfaken) derived its name from Blaan origins – making its tribal roots a significant part and parcel of its social history. As such, the tourism and economic potential of its culture is high – if only realized and anchored to programs of the government.

Most Philippine festivals anchored in Culture are most successful. Sinulog of Cebu, Dinagyang of Ilo-ilo, Ati-atihan of Aklan, Pintados of Leyte and South Cotabato’s Tnalak festival to name a few! These festivals had taken off from the usual merriment – instead, these particular festivals became venues for image making and packaging that speak of the existence and aspirations of their respective people, manifested by a strong political will, creating vast opportunities in business and investments. To top all these, their festival names are unique and their respective people had established a sense of ownership that concretized their directions for growth and development.

Agten Tufi attempts to establish the same direction. As a name with holistic meaning, the Municipality of Tupi drives into the very same holistic programs making it one of its vehicles for establishing identity. It becomes the true mirror of all its institutions combined in positive efforts to respect the cultural past that made Tupi what it is now and what it will be in the future. The new leadership’s visions cater to change – the most imperative change could be the renaming of its reasons to celebrate (the festival) because festivals in the political, economic and social mainstreams are true reflections of a stable governance and a strong political will that establishes a community with right visions and positive directions. In totality, it becomes the main reason to celebrate the goodness and the bounty of the Municipality of Tupi!