Hello dear Hivers!🤗 How's everyone doing?
I was born and grew up in this humble town called Tabogon. For many years, the primary livelihood of the locals here are farming and fishing. The local produce of the people in this place are corn, coconuts, vegetables and many others. While those living near the sea make their living through fishing.
On the 20th of May every year, the Matahum (beautiful in English) Tabogon celebrates its Fiesta in honor of the town's patron saint Sr. San Isidro Labrador!
With the younger generation getting more advanced and modernized applying for some jobs in big cities, there are still locals in the community that still grow corn and other crops as their way of living.
For today's blog, let me share with you how this lively town celebrates its fiesta this year with its most awaited Sanggi Festival.
Like other towns and cities that showcase the unique identity of their community through their most celebrated festivals, Tabogon has been proud to highlight Corn Farming which became the source of income and food for the locals of this very humble place.
Part of their dance routine is the performing of a ritual where the dancers act as farmers offering their prayers to God with the intercession of the saint to help them make a good harvest.
The Sanggi Festival is just a way to pay tribute to the town's patron saint, Sr. San Isidro Labrador for the bountiful harvest the people acquire. And this is what this lively festival is all about!
Some Facts about Sanggi Festival of Tabogon
Sanggi in local dialect means harvest in English. This Sanggi Festival started in 2013 during the time of the late mayor Eusebio Dungog but was replaced with Pausbaw Festival under the next administration. However, it has been revived this year with its old name under the leadership of the new town mayor Francis Salimbangon.
The Sanggi Festival celebrates the fruits of the labor of the diligent and hardworking people of Tabogon.
According to a local newspaper, the revival of the Sanggi Festival was influenced by the provincial governor, Gov. Gwen Garcia who believed that it is necessary to reintroduce the culture and tradition of the town to the younger generations. Source
Engaging the youths in meaningful activities such as sports and cultural dances, the festival is the best avenue for the youngsters not only to make use of their talent in dancing but also to learn to appreciate the tradition and culture that the old folks lived by.
The Street Dancing
At 1:00 in the afternoon, while we were having a festive lunch with a colleague who invited us, the 5 clusters of festival dancers started street dancing parading around the heart of the town towards the church with their very colorful, vibrant, and unique costumes and props.
Of course, I should not miss this very grand event without taking a quick snap of these lovely dancers as they passed by us by the side of the road.
Despite the blazing heat, they manifested how driven and motivated they are to get the first prize of ₱200,000.00 ($3,592.02),2nd prize of ₱175,000.00 ($3,138.18), 3rd prize of ₱150,000.00 ($2,689.87) and a consolation prize of 100,000.00 ($1,793.24).
The propsmen bringing with them baskets of corn harvest.
The statue of Sr. San Isidro Labrador beautifully decorated with lovely and colorful flowers.
The Float
The Festival Dance Showdown
You can imagine this is a very spacious area at the biggest elementary school in the town but was crowded with spectators and audiences cheering for their barangay participants during the grand event.
These selected dancers from the 25 barangays of Tabogon grouped into 5 clusters showed the judges, audience, and spectators their best in dancing proving that their barangay officials were not wrong to have fully supported them along the way.
While other contingents were performing, I observed that a few dancers were not able to withstand the fierce rays of the sun and collapsed! Good thing the Disaster Risk Reduction Management Officers were there to the rescue!
I could still remember the noise and chaos when this group was performing. The audience was shouting at the top of their lungs cheering them on! I bet they were paid to do so. lol For audience impact?(chuckles) Or because they're from the same barangay, this one I'm sure!lol
I learned later that this cluster won first prize in the Sanggi Festival 2023.
But I must admit, their performance was spectacular, too with their very pompous and extravagant-looking costumes where dancers changed from one costume to another. Whew!
Of course, I was there to make some noise for our cluster participants, too!
This lovely festival queen caught my attention not only because of her stunning costume but because she almost tripped because of the dress. But she was able to manage to show her most charming smile toward the judges and the audience. Nice move, girl!
It was, indeed, a blastful weekend!
With this grand event, all the people in the town showed their utmost cooperation and unity not only in trying to preserve the culture and tradition of the community but also giving value to the youth by engaging them in meaningful and wholesome activities that could teach them to appreciate and love their own #MatahumTabogon.
And this is all for today's blog dear Hivers.Thanks for reaching this far. See you again in my upcoming blogs. Until then.....