Indigenous peoples from the Cordillera gathered in Baguio to celebrate the seventh staging of the Gong Festival last weekend.
Garbed in their colorful ethnic attires and adorned with accessories, at least 40 cultural groups from schools and organizations from the different provinces in the region played their gongs and danced from Session Road towards the Ibaloi Heritage Garden at Burnham Park.
Cultural worker and event organizer Jo Kapuno said the gong festival was organized to showcase their rich culture and tradition as part of the celebration of Indigenous Peoples Month.
“The event is a sharing of cultural values, particularly imparting to the public how to use traditional attire properly as well as the playing of cultural instruments and traditional dances,” Kapuno said.
NCIP Commissioner Gaspar Cayat thanked the festival organizers for sustaining the event that showcases and teaches the Cordillera culture and heritage through instruments, songs, and dances to the public and especially to the children and the youth.
Isnag elder Lucena Tacdag also thanked the organizers for inviting participants from Apayao to the festival, enabling their group to present their culture and tradition.
The Isnag cultural group showcased the traditional dances called talip and tad-o in a dance drama. – Redjie Cawis
April 26, 2024
