It is the month of May and Vigan
City will celebrate festivals this month yet again. The Bintbatan Festival of
the Arts: A tapestry of culture and arts woven by a miracle.
Binatbatan
Festival of the Arts is the continuation of the first-day commemoration of
Vigan’s week-long festives. The Naturales of Vigan chose “Tres de Mayo” of 1883
in honor of Apo Lakay of the Simbaan a Bassit as an act of thanksgiving for
having saved Vigan from a deadly epidemic in 1756. From this, it has evolved into
one of, if not the most, colorful and significant festival for us Bigueños to
this day. The Viva Vigan Festival of Arts is celebrated during the first week
of the month of May. It was started in 1993 by the Save Vigan Ancestral Homes
Association, Inc. (SVAHAI) to promote awareness of the value of the historic
town, which was hoped to strengthen resolve to preserve and protect this
heritage site.
Binatbatan
dancing is linked to the abel Iloco craft of Vigan. The dance represents the
process of beating cotton pods with bamboo sticks to remove the cotton fluff
known as batbat from its seed.
Another
familiar and loved activity during the week-long celebration is the Karbo
Festival, also known as the Karabao/Carabao painting. which was began in 2005.
This is an activity in which, you guessed it, farmers paint their Carabaos to
participate in the contest. It’s aimed at giving importance to the people
behind Vigan’s agricultural industry and their contribution. Additionally, to
those who don’t know, the name of the festival was taken from the words
carabao, the Philippine water buffalo used for farming, and bokel or seeds.
And
of course, it’s not a festival without any type of parade or street dancing! To
those who are also unaware of binatbatan street dancing, Street dancers of the
Binatbatan Festival joyfully and cheerfully wave their sticks or their “batbat,”
some simulate the method done by abel-weavers in separating the cottons as they
gracefully perform the process artistically with the beat of the drums and
lyres rolling around the historic streets of the heritage city of Vigan. Also
with them they carry with them a basket at their back where they place the
cotton pods taken from the kapas sanglay tree.
To conclude this post, I don’t have many thoughts of the festival like other celebrations other than this is a festival I have also missed dearly ever since the COVID-19 pandemic. Viva Vigan Arts Festival is a festival that I enjoy and look forward to a lot especially when I was younger. I love how there are festivals and of those sorts to commemorate historical events and the rich traditions and culture of a certain place.
Reference:
“Viva Vigan Festival of the Arts”, Retrieved June 3, 2022,
“Binatbatan Festival of the Arts 2019”, Retrieved June 3,
2022,
“Binatbatan Festival: A Festival Of Cottons And Fabric”,
Retrieved June 3, 2022,
Images:
Image 1:
https://tinyurl.com/2n9uw2u4
Image 2:
https://tinyurl.com/y56uf28d
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