This coming October, the whole nation is celebrating National Indigenous Peoples Month, and the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), led by its chairman, National Artist Virgilio Almario, executive director Rico Pableo, Jr., and deputy executive director Marichu Tellano, is leading the celebration with its annual festival touted as the biggest gathering of indigenous groups in the Philippines.
This year, the Dayaw: Philippine International Indigenous Peoples’ Festival will be held in the province of Capiz, led by Governor Antonio del Rosario, in Western Visayas from October 8 to 10, under the helm of NCCA’s Subcommission on Cultural Communities and Traditional Arts (SCCTA), led by its head, Commissioner Alphonsus Tesoro, who is also Capiz’s Provincial Tourism Officer and Cultural Affairs Officer.
For three days, hundreds of indigenous delegates from about 40 ethnolinguistic groups will gather in Roxas City, and the satellite venue in the town of Cuartero, to present an enriching and fascinating array of activities and events including performances, rituals, forums, traditional cuisine demos, traditional houses, traditional games, arts and crafts exhibit and cultural exchanges, among others.
The Dayaw Festival aims to highlight the importance and richness of indigenous cultures, promote a deeper awareness and appreciation of intangible cultural heritage through the Schools of Living Tradition (SLTs), to discuss issues on indigenous peoples and cultures, and to facilitate interactions with other ethnic groups.
This year, the Dayaw Festival has the theme, “Celebrating Heritage of Creative Communities/ Pagpupugay sa Pamana ng Malikhaing Sambayanan.”
The festival has several components, invigorating traditions and inspiring life stories of the indigenous.
The traditional performances component, called “Bantug sang Banwa,” narrates the ancient wisdom and contemporary truths of the indigenous communities through their songs, dances, and other performative platforms and cultural expressions. This component makes manifest a sense of identity and continuity, provides links from the past to the present, and accordingly helps individuals and groups to feel part of one or different communities and of society at large.
The exhibit component, “Katutubong Likha, Daluyan ng Biyayang Kaalaman,” is designed as an interactive showcase of the shared wisdom and ingenuity of indigenous peoples from all over the country, conveying the richness of their traditional craftsmanship and wealth of indigenous knowledge. It promotes that indigenous heritage is a source of pride of the all Filipinos.
The conferences and forum component, “Maaram, Maalam, May Kinaadman,” is focused on safeguarding and reinvigorating intangible cultural heritage intended to raise cultural awareness, advance cultural sensitivity and nurture sustainable development-orientation for students, educators, cultural practitioners, government workers and administrators, as well as policy makers from all over the country.
”Mamugnaong Pagpa-ambit” is the community outreach component where participating contingents are encouraged to share aspects of their culture in different communities of Capiz.
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