Kaamulan Festival of Bukidnon - celebrating the culture and tradition of the seven ethnic tribal groups
December 27, 2008 by admin
Filed under Bikidnon Festival, Mindanao Festivals
The Festival
Each year, Bukidnon, the Pineapple Capital of the Phlippines, is celebrating the Kaamulan Festival during the month of March. An ethnic-cultural festival, the Kaamulan, Binukid term for ìsocial gatheringî, is held in Malaybalay City celebrating the culture and tradition of the seven ethnic tribal groups, the Bukidnon, Higaonon, Talaandig, Manobo, Matigsalug, Tigwahanon, and Umayammon, which is the first to inhabit the province. Their languages, proven by the linguistic studies, along with the Manobo languages of Mindanao, are daughter languages of early language known as the Proto Manobo, which believed to have migrated to Southern Mindanao centuries ago.
The Kaamulan Festival is the only ethnic festival in the Philippines, celebrated together with the Foundation Day of Bukidnon, and is much awaited by everyone. Tribal ethnic songs, dances, games, crafts, and rituals wraps the feast into one exciting and fun event that makes every Filipino look back to their roots. What makes the Kaamulan captivating to the hearts of many is the authenticity of the natives who perform in the activities.
Among the ceremonies in the event are the pangampo, general worship, the tagulambong ho datu, the marking of ascendants to being future datu, the panumanod, a spiriting ceremony, the panlisig, driving the evil spirits away, a ceremony called the pamalas, and the kagsaba ho kabayo, a native horse fight.
Spicing up the festival even more are the garden shows, trade fairs, food fest, bazaar, live stock shows, agri-fair, sports, horse rodeo, and street dancing. Other major events include the Pamuhat a Bukidnon ritual, Ethnic Street Dancing, Kaamulan Rodeo, and Bukidnonís Foundation Day Parade.
Banners and banderitas are all over the place together with the sound of ethnic music during the feast and a lot of native dancing.
Bukidnon, moreover, is a one stop tourist destination spot where one would enjoy the view of the pine-covered mountains and hills, and the Pulangi River which is know for a haven for whitewater adventurers.
In the afternoon, dance clinics are conducted by indegenous people using native drums and musical instruments. Chants of the Bukidnon epic, recitations of the limbay, singing of idangdang, the bayok-bayok or the verses, the riddles called the antoka, nanangon or the folk tales, and the debate of tracing geneology are held in the evening.
Origin
During the celebration of the fiesta of the municipality of Malaybalay, the first Kaamulan Festival started in May 15, 1974. To hopes of enlivening the fiesta, the townís Vice Mayor thought of inviting indigenous people to come celebrate with them, and perform few ethnic dances at the Plaza Rizal in honor of San Isidro Labrador. Not realizing how popular this first event would become, a former reporter of the Manila Times was one of the guest of the Vice Mayor, who wrote about the event for a national magazine and started popularism for Kaamulan, and so goes the following years. The festival was adopted as the regional festival of Northern Mindanao by the Regional Development Council on September 16, 1977. However the date of which the festival is celebrated was moved to same date of the Bukidnonís town fiesta in 1996.
History
Between the years of 1960 to 1970, individuals made efforts to organize a celebration in honor of the contribution of the indegenous people to the culture of Bukidnon. In November of 1977, sponsored by the provincial government of Bukidnon, the first Kaamulan Festival is held. Years 1978 to 1998, the Kaamulan is agreed to be celebrated every first Friday of September, yet on 1999, it is moved to the second half of February until March, during the celebration of the Foundation Day of the Province of Bukidnon.
The first Kaamulan Off-Road Challenge and First Kaamulan Invitational Shootfest were added to the events of the festival in 2002. An exhibit of Bukidnon contemporary art called the bansagen also kicked off for the first time. In 2006, in consonance of the celebration of the Kaamulan Festival, the First National Folklore Conference, and an indegenous song-writing clinic for students were held.
