Monday, August 12, 2013

Kadayawan - The King of Festivals

Kadayawan Festival
Colorful culture of Davao.

Every third week of August, Davao City becomes more vibrant and more colorful. The main streets are decorated with colorful buntings and fruit stands sprout like mushrooms as they sell Davao-grown fruits such as the famous Durian, Mangosteen, and succulent Pomelos sell at rock bottom prices. Kadayawan Festival, dubbed as the King of Festivals, is just around the corner and I cannot wait myself to experience it again this year!

The Kadayawan Festival is a yearly festival in the city of Davao, Philippines. The name of which was derived from a Davaoeño word, Madayaw, meaning valuable, good, and beautiful. Kadayawan Festival is a celebration of life and thanksgiving for the bountiful harvest, and the wealth of culture. The city started celebrating it in 1988 through the initiatives of Mayor Rodrigo Duterte. To this day, the festival continues to honor the city's richness and diverse artistic, cultural and historical heritage in a grand celebration of thanksgiving.

These are some of my snapshots of Kadayawan Festival last year, taken at Camus Street. There were so many people at the sidewalk but I managed to squeeze into the crowd together with my heavy equipment (Canon EOS 1100D plus a 70-200 mm f/2.8 L-series lens). It felt like I was carrying a bazooka or what. Hahaha! This was during the Floral parade. Too bad I didn't had the time to capture the Indak-indak sa Dalan event due to lack of time. But despite that, the street was literally painted with vibrant colors as the floats passed the street.

Kadayawan Festival
Floral float with a built-in fountain!
Kadayawan Festival
Intricate design.
Kadayawan Festival
Kadayawan Festival
Smile!
Kadayawan Festival
Kadayawan Festival
Ecstatic participants
Kadayawan Festival
Fiesta!
Kadayawan Festival
Through the years.
Kadayawan Festival
The famous Waling-waling
Kadayawan Festival
Excited crowd!
Kadayawan Festival
The lost mermaid!
Kadayawan Festival
Security is not a problem.

It was not easy to cover this event. You need to be patient and be quick to adjust your equipment in order to have the best shots. Also, the heat of the sun was really unbearable. Within six hours, I became a hundred shades darker than my original skin tone. But yeah, it was all worth it. It was really fun most especially if you are with your photographer friends!

 

 

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