Buyogan Festival of Abuyog Leyte - Unique Bee Festival
December 26, 2008 by admin
Filed under August Festivals, Featured, Leyte Festivals
BUYOGAN FESTIVAL
The Festival
Tacloban City of Leyte celebrates Buyogan Festival in Abuyog on the 28th of August every year. The locally known “buyog” or the bees is the center of the feast, where the name of the town is originated from. The Buyogan Festival is a choreographed dance patterned to the movements of the bees.
This unique bee festival showcases the culture of Abuyog as a tourist attraction and aims to promote the festival itself.
Conceptualized by the town’s official in 1996, the festival highlights streetdancing competition, where schools compete for a large amount of cash, provided by the municipal government
People of Abuyog celebrates the week-long Linggo ng Abuyog with Buyogan Festival as one of its highlights, in honor of the town’s patron, Saint Francis Xavier, and the legendary concepts of the beautiful fairy named Opayda.
Town mayor of Abuyog encourages the youth in participating with the cultural activities such as the Buyogan, as their contribution for the promotion of local tourism.
Buyogan Festival has earned popularity when it joined Aliwan Festival, the national grand competition of the country’s best festivals. Competitors in the past Aliwan Festival include the Pamulinawan Festival of Laoag City, Bonok Bonok Marajaw Karajaw of Surigao City, Diyandi Festival of Iligan, Sinulog Festival of Cebu, Masskara Festival of Bacolod City, Dinagyang Festival of Iloilo City, Tultugan Festival of Maasin, Kadayawan Festival of Davao City, and the Pintaflores Festival of San Carlos City, among many others. Also a part of the Aliwan fest is the Aliwan Streetdance Competition, which took place in Metro Manila.
Dubbed as crowd’s favorite, the Buyogan also joined the Sinulog Festival, and Leyte’s Pintados-Kasadyaan Festivals of Festival, where it managed to grab the top spot as the grand festival champion. Abuyog’s mystical bees, fairies, and colorful dancers in lively tuned guaranteed Buyogan being the top-rated festival against other contingents.
The Scoop
Town of Abuyog
Second largest town in the province of Leyte, Abuyog is also a second-class municipality. Lying between two great rivers of Cadac-an and Bito, it is geographically resting along ornamental borders of the Pacific Ocean.
Aspiring tourist attraction in the town of Abuyog, Leyte is exploration diving in the beautiful coral gardens and lagoons in the beaches.
Humorous how townsfolks of Abuyog tell intrigued people of how the town of Abuyog got its name. It is said that when Spaniards came asking natives what the name of the place was, they mistakenly thought the Spaniards were asking about the bees swarming nearby, replying “ah..buyog”.
The town also holds a story about mystical creature known popularly as Opayda, a good fairy who helped to cure victims of bee stings, and guided fishermen reach the shore through a magical voice.
