Life is Fun in Kabankalan!

The weekend was perhaps the biggest party all over the country as the Pope came to visit Manila and Tacloban followed by millions of pilgrims, the Province of Aklan celebrated the Ati-Atihan Festival, Cebu was busy with Sinulog and of course Kabankalan City celebrated the 39^th Kabankalan Sinulog Festival.

We always look forward to festivals and events on the second and third weekends of January as the Visayas celebrates the Feast of Sto. Nino. It was a rainy day as we drove to Kabankalan City about 90 kilometers towards southern Negros. After passing through some towns with roads being repaired which made travel time slower, we arrived at around six in the evening, just in time for the Sinulog Mardi Gras. There was a motorcade of Santo Nino from the Cathedral to the Sacred Heart of Jesus Chapel at Brgy. Talubangi lead by Mayor Isidro P. Zayco who held the image of Santo Nino all throughout the motorcade.  Hotels, Resorts and Pension houses were fully booked, luckily, we were able to reserve one room at Zaycoland Resort.

 

This was a Saturday night and revelers attended the Neon Party at Zaycoland Resort, the resort was fully booked as well with 32 rooms and 15 large tents. The music reverberated all over the resort and into our room until three in the morning.  At the same time, a concert was held at the City Football field for the public with the Kapuso Fiesta show featuring talents of GMA. The Sinulog sa Kabankalan Music fest 2015 followed featuring local, Manila and International Disc Jockeys.

 

On Sunday, a fluvial procession of the Santo Nino at the Ilog-Hilabangan River was held, followed by a concelebrated mass and the Grand Tribal Parade. The best way to fully enjoy Sinulog is to walk around the park, meet friends, family and enjoy participating in the ‘hamlitanay’, wear black and blend with the crowd. A boy with his friends went near me and marked both cheeks with charcoal and greeted me by saying ‘Happy Sinulog!’ Early that morning while walking around town and taking pictures, street cleaners were already up and about, a drunk guy greeted me making a high five with his palm full of charcoal. Coming to fiestas is indeed fun, I saw an array of roasted pigs at Snooky’s at Brgy. 2, there were about 62 pigs roasted that day and some goats too.

Having been invited by friends and relatives to their homes, we had to manage our food intake to accommodate a little of what they served, it is a custom in the Philippines to eat during fiestas specially when invited. Kabankalan is home of the Zayco, Garrido, Cordero, Lopez, Albayda, Ramos, Lacson, Mangao, Rivera, Limsiaco-Zafra families.

There were booths representing Barangays and Tribes at the plaza. We saw a man carrying a huge python where some took pictures of it too, the festival warrior dancers were friendly as tourists asked them to have their pictures taken with them. Surprisingly, some vendors were selling goods from Iloilo, or cut flowers from Manila, colorful balloons, popcorn stands and ‘ice scramble’ in different flavors were sold like hotcake on a sunny Sunday in Kabankalan.

Tribu Dhay Ting of Brgy. Daan Banwa was the Grand Tribal Competition champion while Tribu Orobinucao of Brgy. Orong  was also awarded grand champion for the Sinulog de Kabankalan Mardigras.

The Sinulog Foundation together with other non-government organizations and the tourism office in the city, worked hand in hand under  the leadership of Mayor Isidro Zayco making the 39th Sinulog sa Kabankalan a success, indeed Life is FUN in Kabankalan!

Let’s visit Mabinay, Negros Oriental for the 55^th Town Fiesta and the Langub Festival on Saturday and proceed to the town of Cauayan, Negros Occidental on Sunday for the Lubay-Lubay Festival (south ) or dance to the beat of the drums at Cadiz City for the Dinagsa Festival(north).