The Beauty of our own

Viva Vigan Festival of the Arts

We’ve always been known for how competitive we are whether it is in sports, beauty pageants, school contests, or even street dances. Just as may fall here in Vigan, drums and xylophones will be chirping loudly as they prepare for the upcoming arts festival. Many of the students from different schools work extremely hard to win prizes and gain recognition. While the local residents enjoy watching the beautiful dresses with the dancers' outstanding performances. Therefore "The earlier, the better" is the best quote to describe how early citizens get to their own position to have a good view. It’s crazy, right? But yes, this is how we Ilocanos appreciate our arts and culture.

Viva Vigan is held every year in the first week of May. There will be a calesa parade, binatbatan street dancing, ramada games, religious rituals, Santa Cruzan, bankathon, exhibits, trade/food fairs, an Abel-iloco fashion show, and other exciting events. Over the past years, the Viva Vigan Festival has become one of the biggest cultural events in the North, attracting domestic and foreign visitors who come to Vigan on a pilgrimage to our heritage.

The week-long Viva Vigan celebrations are both religious and secular in nature. It all begins on May 1st, when the entire country celebrates Labor Day and Vigan remembers its own Isabelo de los Reyes, who founded the country's first labor federation. On this day, the Catholic faithful also remembers St. Joseph, the patron saint of workers. The Binatbatan Festival celebrations, which include a street dancing competition, follow the first-day commemoration. Binatbatan dancing is linked to the abel Iloco craft of Vigan. The dance depicts the beating of cotton pods with bamboo sticks to release the cotton fluff known as batbat from its seed. This festival began in 2002 to highlight this traditional weaving craft, which is said to predate the arrival of the Spaniards.

Despite how fun and meaningful this event is, do you think that it’s already time for us to move on and just forget about the existing virus that is still around? As much as I want to enjoy the beautiful scenery of every dancer and those who play the instruments, I just can’t. Because the longer I stay, the heavier I felt. I know it’s exaggerating but I really felt so uncomfortable watching some people having no facemask and social distancing. Honestly, I think many of us have forgotten or perhaps just don’t really care that the pandemic is still alive. It’s disappointing how much we tried to get rid of this unseen virus and yet many of us are still hard-headed and selfish. I don’t really understand why we can’t follow the simplest protocol. How hard is it to put in some effort and sacrifices for the sake of all of us?  

For me, the lesson of this article is that if we really want to get the things we want, we have to take action and make some effort. Despite those bad things that I have witnessed and said, I think that this event is so important and valuable to every Ilocanos for this is one of the symbols of our community. But don’t forget that the greatness of a community is most accurately measured by the compassionate actions of it’s members.

SOURCES:

PIC: https://generosepomelo.com/2019/05/05/viva-vigan-binatbatan-festival-of-the-arts/

https://www.facebook.com/ergoviganhotel/posts/vigan-binatbatan-festival-2018streetdancing/2021542301439097/

https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/lifestyle/travel/369711/govt-campaigns-for-vigan-in-penultimate-stage-of-wonder-cities-search/story/

DOCUMENT: https://www.vigan.ph/attractions/viva-vigan-festival-of-the-arts.html