9 December 2024
What I like about our country is its rich culture and vibrant festival celebrations, which I believe are rooted in Spanish colonial traditions and Christian practices. So, every fiesta is filled with colorful decorations, fun cultural shows and events, merry parades and processions, and a festive atmosphere. It is only one of those things that tourists like about our rich culture and tradition.
If my memory serves me right, it was over a decade ago the last time I attended our town's fiesta. I finally celebrated it again after being a homestay worker, not an overseas one. Our fiesta coincides with my late father's birthday, particularly on the 29th of September, so it is also a day to commemorate his special day. And yes, this is kind of late and should be shared before the year ends.
Just a little overview of my town
My town, Basey, is a small town in the Western Samar province with 51 barangays (villages or communities) and a population of less than a hundred thousand. Some people will read it as Ba-sey because of its spelling, but we read it as Basay in our dialect, and we, residents, are called Basaynons. Our town was one of those badly affected by the super typhoon Yolanda in 2013. But with Filipino resilience and support from different organizations, our town easily recovered from the devastation. Today, I can call it a fast-growing town, not just by population but by economic growth. In the future, this might become a small city, like other towns in our province.
Image credit to Sonjas Visuals taken during the fiesta week, which I also used in this article of mine.
Basey's Pride
My town's key features include banig making and iconic tourist attractions.
Banig making is one of the town's prides and a source of income for many Basaynons. Banig is a handwoven mat made from native materials like buri or tikog, which are grown in our town. In 2000, our town held the Guinness World Record for the longest banig mat. I was in my last grade in primary school then, and our school was part of the town's fiesta parade. It was an iconic event that made our town one of the best makers of banig mats in our country. I also grew up with the knowledge of making banig since my mother was one of those banig makers when I was a kid. Traditionally, banig is used as an alternative to bed mats, which we used during my childhood, but nowadays, it can be used to make different costumes and even home decor.
My town is also home to the iconic Sohoton Cave, known for its limestone caves, rock formations, narrow openings, underground river, and falls. Its name, Sohoton, means narrow openings that require one to pass through them to enter. This is one on my bucket list, and I'm hoping to visit the place soon. Boat kayaking is a popular sport activity here, and exploring other caves nearby. I wished to explore the place with my siblings, but it's quite expensive, so I must first save money.
Aside from Sohoton Cave, some other caves and waterfalls are also worth exploring. River cruising is also popular in my town.
A day of fun at Basey Town Fiesta
On the 29th of September, I planned to spend my day with my siblings at our town proper to watch the parade and other events in celebration of the last day of the festival. However, the parade started at 7 in the morning, and we arrived there at almost 10, so what do you expect?
The parade participants were already arriving at the gym; thus, we failed to watch the street merrymaking performances. Still, we stayed to watch the performances of each delegate from different schools and organizations for the festival competition.
Watch School Band Competition
The gym was packed with visitors and supporters from different schools. Gladly, we spotted a place with a better view from the side of the stage. At one in the afternoon, each delegate started to perform at the center of the gym, showcasing their colorful costumes, creative props, dance, and music from their respective bands, and some even incorporated drama and traditional folk stories into their performances.
Street food trip
After watching the competition for a few hours, we headed outside to visit the street food corner. It's been a while since I had a food trip with my siblings, so I took the chance to enjoy street food with them. We bought fries paired with a mango shake. A great combo for the hot weather. While savoring our food, we walked toward the Basey church, where we planned to find a shed to eat our food well and relax.
Visit Basey Historical Church
This is Saint Michael the Archangel Parish Church, named after our patron saint, Saint Michael Archangel, locally called Senior San Miguel. It was established in the 17th century during the Spanish colonial era and was one of Samar's oldest churches. Over the years, several typhoons had affected the church, so despite the damages, the town's efforts restored and preserved it for historical integrity.
Colorful bandits strung across the streets gave charm to the place. We stayed a little longer until we finished our food. It was also a perfect time to take photos in front of the church since only a few people were there, thus, fewer photobombers.
Walk along the promenade
The town's promenade is a short walk from the church, which offers a panoramic view of the ocean and outlying islands. This was created after the strong typhoon Yolanda wreaked havoc in our town in 2013 to serve as a barrier and protection for the residents from a sudden storm surge.
The sudden water surge killed hundreds of residents of the town. With the help of donations from different organizations, the promenade was created along with different ripraps in different villages, including ours, located along the coastline and riverside.
So, this promenade symbolizes Basey's hope and resilience.
Small road trip on a tricycle
Our town's main transportation modes to travel from one place to another are tricycles for big groups and habal-habal for small groups.
The tricycle is a three-wheeled vehicle that can accommodate up to 8 passengers, while a habal-habal is an extended single motorcycle that can accommodate up to 4 passengers. These types of transportation are common in our country's rural and urban areas.
We strolled through our town before going back to our village.
Carnival Night Fun
We went back to the town proper at night to visit the carnival. Given that it was the festival's last day, the carnival would close the following day, so many people wanted to play games and have fun with different rides.
There were different food stalls, games, and rides for all ages. Since the rides were just for kids, although there was a Viking ride for adults, we didn't like it, so we opted to try some games.
We started with Bingo, a popular and widely played game in our country for entertainment. The game is also played at social gatherings, festivals, and even funeral events. Cards contain 5x5 grid numbers from 1 to 75 with columns labeled with B, I, N, G, and O.
Although the chances of winning this game are very low, many still like playing it because of the fun, especially when the announcer has a sense of humor.
Unfortunately, we didn't win a single round after betting on a few cards, not literally cards, because they were drawn on a long wooden board, so we stopped and found other interesting games to try.
Next was the tama game. I bet my Php 100 and won Php 300. I felt lucky, lol. How did I win? I placed a Php 20 bet in 5 numbers; fortunately, the number I picked was hit 🤣.
That was easy, but I didn't want to gamble my winning prize, so we left immediately.
Apart from these two games, we also tried other games. But since the carnival was crowded, it was too hot inside. We stepped out to take a breather, and after that, we visited a hub for a night drinking session and a food trip.
Rayhakan Night Hangout
For every town's fiesta, the Department of Tourism organized Rayhakan, allowing small businesses to participate and give fun to visitors and locals. Rayhakan came from the dialect word rayhak, which means to have fun, and rayhakan is simply a place to have fun.
The place has an array of stalls selling barbecues and other street food, as well as alcoholic drinks and other beverages. It was open every night, with live stage performances, such as live music and comedy shows, entertaining visitors.
We bought a bottle of beer and paired it with barbecues. Being the oldest in the group, I felt as if I was influencing them to drink liquor, lol.
But we weren't there to get drunk but to have fun and enjoy the night's music, comedy shows, and food while strengthening bonds with my younger siblings and nephew.
After that we thought there was a disco night at the gym, so we headed there. Unfortunately, there wasn't, so we visited the church adjacent to it before heading back home.
It was indeed a day full of fun and new shared memories!
Thanks for your time.
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Jane is a Filipina wanderer in a foreign land who finds comfort in nature and freedom in writing. She loves watching raw picturesque landscapes, listening to the symphony of nature, breathing in drops of sunshine, walking through scenic trails and cityscapes, tasting new culinary flavors, capturing pretty little things, venturing into hidden gems, and dancing with the flow of life.
Her new experiences, adventures, challenges, lessons, small successes, and joys are colorful paints that fill up her canvas of life. She hopes to see it beautifully painted while she can.
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