Kadayawan For Dummies, Part I

This article on Kadayawan is contributed by a Davao-based Internet writer who goes by the pen name Dabawenyong Robot.

Myth: The Kadayawan Festival is all about those pretty flowers, fresh fruits and tireless street dancing.

Fact: The Kadayawan Festival is actually a tribute to the indigenous people of Davao City. The flowers (showcased via the “Floral Float Parade”), fruits (oh so abundant in August) and street dancing (called the “Indak-Indak sa Dalan”) are connected to these people and therefore serves among the many highlights of the festival.

***

Official Kadayawan press releases and articles are notorious for being too well-written, too deep, too rhetorical. Try reading three well-worded and vocabulary-testing paragraphs from these articles, and then tell us with a straight face if you get the idea right away.

If the answer is NO, don’t worry. You’re not alone. We feel that way, too. Thus we’re writing up this little sham of an article for dummies like us. And you.

Our aim is to let you understand the very basics of Kadayawan in the simplest, clearest way we can… heck we might even share a tip or two. Or maybe not.

Oh well, enough with that already. Let’s get on with the bloody thing.

***

The annual Kadayawan Festival is one of the major events in Davao City, along with the Araw ng Dabaw. The latter celebration is a tribute to the city and the Dabawenyos in general.

This year’s festival will be held from August 18-24. However, some official Kadayawan-related events such as the AGRO Industrial Trade Fair (slated for August 8-31) and Kaan Dawet (starts August 17) will be held beyond that timeframe.

***

The Kadayawan is a week-long celebration here in Davao City and features several events. Some of the events are way up in terms of grandiose, while some are rather of the solemn type but nonetheless as important.

The official Kadayawan events are those being conducted by the Kadayawan Committee. The Indak-Indak Parade is one, the Floral Float parade is another. The non-official events on the other hand, are conducted by outside sources but acknowledged by the Kadayawan Committee. The Kadayawan Fun Run by the Davao Sunday Runners Club Inc is an example of a non-official Kadayawan event.

Madayaw!

You will most likely encounter this term often during the festival. Madayaw is often USED to convey goodness, beauty, and marvel. So when someone says Madayaw Dabaw, he means to say: “Davao is great and wonderful!”

***

The following are just some of the official events that are often considered as Kadayawan’s main attractions, especially for tourists looking to experience something unique and “truly Dabawenyo”. Now bring out the notes and jot these down.

Indak-Indak sa Kadalanan (Other variants of the name include: Indak-Indak sa Da’n/ Indak-Indak sa Dalan) – Street Dance Parade and Competition.

Pamulak Kadayawan – Floral Float Parade Competition.

Dawow: Tubod sa Kasaysayan – Davao River Festival

Tunog Mindanaw – World Music Festival

Moda Mindanaw – Fashion and Floral Design Competition

Sayaw Mindanaw – The Mindanao Dance Competition

***

Aside from the events listed above, there will also be lengthy showcases featuring each of the recognized indigenous groups in the city. This is called the “Lumadnong Bantawan”. This event will be held at both the Rizal Park and People’s Park.

The indigenous groups that shall participate in these activities are:

• Tribong Ata Manuvu
• Tribong Kalagan
• Tribong K’lata
• Tribong Maguindanao
• Tribong Maranao
• Tribong Matigsalog
• Tribong Sama
• Tribong Tagabawa
• Tribong Tausug
• Tribong Ubo-Manobo

The New Kadayawan Commercial (see Kadayawan 2008 video, above) features representatives from each of the ten groups. If you want to personally see more about these tribes, you already know where to go.

***

Indak-Indak and the Floral Float Parade

The two big parades of the festival are often held during weekends. This year’s Indak-Indak Parade will be held on Saturday, and the Floral Float Parade on Sunday.

The Indak-Indak has two main components. The first is the street parade, where performers groove it up while parading along selected points of the city. The second is the showdown, where the very same people perform on the same venue, which has traditionally been San Pedro Street. The parade normally takes place in the morning, the showdown from the afternoon to evening.

The Indak-Indak is wildly popular because of the distinctively Mindanaoan beat and costumes. Several tourists come to Davao to watch hundreds of people dancing with vigour in the streets, clad in their native attire and carrying extravagant props that would give Hollywood studios a serious run for their money.

The Floral Float Parade on the other hand, is a showcase not only of the best flowers and orchids that the city has to offer, but also brilliant Dabawenyo minds that never cease to run out of incredible ideas. Want to see giant replicas of animals the size of a truck made up of nothing else but flowers? No problem. Go watch the parade and you will see one.

***

In Part 2 of this article, we will touch on some other related topics like the following:

• Bagobo Horse Fight
• Hiyas Ng Kadayawan — sort of a search for beauty and brains
• Fruits (literally) of Davao

So please hang on tomorrow for the second installment of this series.