VIGAN, Ilocos Sur -- Vigan Ilocos Sur, are gearing up for this year's "Viva Vigan" Festival of Art, which will take place from April 28 - May 7.
The Vigan Festival promises to be a colorful celebration of Vigan arts and traditions.
"Vigan has been so blessed and our gratitude to God is endless. We therefore invite you to share with us the merriment of this year's edition of Viva Vigan ," said Vigan City Mayor Ferdinand C. Medina.
"With a variety of cultural events and exhibits, as well as the active participation of the private sector, the 2006 Viva Vigan Festival of the Arts promises to be major triumph of all Biguenos," Vigan Mayor Medina disclosed.
Among the highlights of the 10-day summer festival are:
the signing of the sisterhood agreement between the cities of Vigan and Maui, Hawaii
a trade and food festival, wherein the residents will showcase the different local crafts with export values, the different native food delicacies, and various arts design
Abel weaving design and Abel House decoration contests. Abel-Iloko is a traditional livelihood of Vigan that has been sustained from the Pre-Spanish period to the present
Binatbatan street dancing contest - an ilocano dance depicting the first step in the Abel-Iloco weaving process which is the beating of the cotton pods with two bamboo sticks to separate the seeds from the fluff
Karbo Festival and Boklan art contest - are tributes to farmers of Vigan and their farm animals, in which an exposition of the bounties of land and water artistically showcased through the seeds of life, as well as the carabao's pageantry during a parade at the heritage district.
Labor Day Celebration. On May 1, the city officials will be having a wreath laying ceremony at the marker of Don Isabelo De Los Reyes - the father of the Philippine Labor Union Movement.
Feast of Apo Lakay (the miraculous Black Nazarene). On May 3, the annual feast of Black Nazarene (Apo Lakay) will be celebrated to honor his (Apo Lakay) intercession in preventing a deadly cholera epidemic in 1882 in Ilocos.
Santacruzan - a novena procession commemorating St. Helena's mythical finding of the cross. St. Helena was the mother of Constantine the Great. Santacruzan is among the many processions, and probably the most popular one, held in May in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Abel-Iloco Fashion Show
Now on its 13th year, the Viva Vigan Festival of the Arts started through the initiative of the local government and private sector to promote the unique but historic culture and arts of the Biguenos - the term used for the natives and residents of Vigan, Ilocos Sur.
The highlight of the then maiden Viva Vigan's fest was a parade of richly decorated calesas and an educational tour of the ancestral houses.
Over the years, the Viva Vigan festival has become one of the biggest cultural event in the Northern Luzon, attracting thousands domestic and foreign tourists from different parts of the Philippines and the world.
