Kadayawan Festival
An annual festive in city of Davao.
Its name derives from the friendly greeting "Madayaw", from the
Dabawenyo word "dayaw", meaning good, and valuable, superior or
beautiful. The festival is a celebration of life, a thanksgiving for the gifts
of nature, the wealth of culture, the bounties of harvest and serenity of
living.
Today, Kadayawan has transformed
into a festival of festivals, with a number of spin-off festivals in the
region. The festival honors Davao’s artistic, cultural and historical heritage,
its past personified by the ancestral “lumads”, its people as they celebrate on
the streets, and its floral industry as its representatives parade in full
regalia in thanksgiving for the blessings granted on the city. A celebration
that interfaces the three aspects: tribal; industrial and; arts and
entertainment. The festivities are highlighted with floral floats,
street-dancing competitions and exhibits that showcase the island's tourism
products and services.
Araw ng Davao City
Araw ng Davao is a vibrant feast,
which means celebrating oneness of our multi cultural city. Davao celebrates
its birthday in a grand gala fashion befitting the largest city in Mindanao.
The Araw ng Dabaw festivities come complete with a jam-packed, seven-day
schedule of trade fairs and cultural presentations. There is also a colorful
civic-military parade and a citywide beauty pageant, featuring the smartest,
most charming ladies this side of the islands.
Highlights of the festival includes
the "Parada" (socio-civic parade), "Bandahan sa Kadalanan"
(band parade), "Piging sa Dan" (food street party), "Kasikas"
(part extravaganzas), along with other spectacles along the major city streets,
and the much-anticipated search for the "Mutya ng Dabaw", the city's
Ambassador of Goodwill. Other events, such as "Huni" (pop music song
writing competition), concerts, arts and culture presentations, various sports
competitions are also held during the festival.
