VIVA VIGAN: CITY OF FESTIVALS

 

People gathered to select spots when the streets were closed. The drums are pounding furiously. The street dancers proudly exclaim "Viva Vigan!" in colorful costumes. The Binatbatan festival has grown to become one of the greatest cultural gatherings in the Philippines' northwestern archipelago.

Binatbatan Celebration is more than just a festival, with participants dressed in abel Iloko, a woven fabric native to the Ilocos Region. It highlights Vigan's rich culture and traditional industry.

Binatbatan Festival has its origins in Vigan's abel weaving business, which existed long before the Spaniards arrived to colonize the Philippines. It derives from the word batbat, which refers to a pair of bamboo sticks used to remove cotton pods from kapas sanglay trees. In Ilocano, the term "kapas" (from kapas sanglay) signifies "cotton."

Binatbatan Festival street dancers wave their "batbat," some imitating the way used by abel-weavers in separating cottons as they elegantly conduct the procedure artistically to the beat of drums and lyres rolling along the old streets of Vigan's heritage city.

Binatbatan Street Dancers also have a basket behind them in which they deposit the cotton pods harvested from the kapas sanglay tree. The fruits of the Kapas sanglay tree dry up along the tree's branches before falling off once the fruit cracks open, exposing the seed-filled cottons inside.

Despite the fact that it was a scorching hot day, the street dancers continued to beam with joy in their rich history and tradition. Street dancing grows more thrilling with time, from Vigan's bustling Quezon Avenue to the lively Liberation Boulevard to the tranquil and quiet Calle Crisologo.

Even small children who joined in the street dance gave it their all with no sign of complaint or tiredness on their faces.