A highly-touted Festival of Festivals – the Kadayawan sa Davao has come a long way since it started 35 years ago as a cultural rite by Mindanao tribes to thank the Supreme Being for a bountiful harvest.
Tribal festivals date back to the 1970s when the late Davao City Mayor Elias B. Lopez, a Bagobo descent, founded several cultural thanksgiving rituals of Mindanao’s Indigenous Peoples (IPs) and thought to merge these into one celebration. It was only in 1986 under then the late mayor Zafiro Respicio that only one festival was popularized – the Apo Duwaling to honor Mt. Apo, the Durian fruit, and the Waling-waling orchid.
From its original name the Apo Duwaling in 1986 to Kadayawan sa Dabaw in 1988, the festival never fails to bring pomp and pageantry each year in honor of Davao’s 11 tribes and the natural wonders. In 1995, the festival was institutionalized by then-Mayor Rodrigo Duterte in his Executive Order No. 10.
Regardless of the name change, the festival’s common aspirations of thanksgiving and celebrating bountiful harvest have remained to this day. It continues to draw locals and foreign tourists to the city. Last year, the month-long festival drew over 200,000 visitors and generated billions in income.
More than a festival
For Dabawenyos, there is more to the grandiose celebration of Kadayawan. No less than Davao City Mayor Inday Sara Duterte-Carpio underscored the importance of Kadayawan.
In her recent interview over the Davao City Disaster Radio, Mayor Sara said it is a celebration of the bountiful harvest and the cultural diversity of the IPs who continue to face challenges in their struggle for rights, ancestral domain, and access to education and other opportunities.
“We want to make sure that we are aware of these issues concerning our IPs not only here in Davao City but also in other places. A celebration of IP culture here is a celebration of culture elsewhere,” the mayor said.
Keeping hope alive
The coronavirus pandemic and the period of mourning may have silenced the city streets from thumping of feet, the drums, and the roars, the spirit of the Kadayawan Festival is kept alive in digital platforms.
Dabawenyos and visitors can journey down memory lane for the best of the Indak-Indak sa Kadalanan (street dancing) and the Pamulak (floral float parade).
The city government opened the Kadayawan Digital Week with a two-part Kadayawan In Retrospect aired on August 18 and 20 and culminating with a Pasasalamat: Honoring the Frontliner at 1 p.m. via Zoom and streamed on Kadayawan sa Davao Facebook Page on August 24. A two-part Paglaum (hope) concert was also streamed on August 21 and 22.
Department of Tourism (DoT) Secretary Berna Romulo-Puyat, in a video message posted on the Kadayawan sa Davao Facebook Page on August 21, lauded the resilient spirit of the Dabawenyos, saying, “Kadayawan not only keeps traditions alive, it keeps hope alive.”
“No pandemic can dampen the vibrant spirit of the Dabawenyos. Congratulations Mayor Sara Duterte and the people of Davao!” she added.
The DoT secretary said that although the country is going through very challenging times there is still so much to be thankful for.
“Celebrating the festival online is to also acknowledge that despite the many setbacks, life is here in Davao,” she said, adding that nature blesses Davao with its gifts and the city always has its bountiful harvest this season.
She also said that the rich culture of the 11 tribes and locals who called Davao City their home, made the city so diverse, colorful and harmonious. CIO
