The Viva Vigan Festival of Arts is celebrated during the first week of the month of May. It was started in 1993 by the Save Vigan Ancestral Homes Association, Inc. (SVAHAI) to promote awareness of the value of the historic town, which was hoped to strengthen resolve to preserve and protect this heritage site. The name of this festival “Binatbatan” came from the Iloco term “Batbatin”, or separating cotton from the seed of the local fruit tree “Kapas Sanglay”
Viva Vigan’s week-long festivities have both religious and secular importance. It starts on the 1st of May, when the whole country celebrates Labor Day and Vigan remembers the founder of the country’s first federation of labor, Isabelo de los Reyes. The first-day commemoration is commonly followed by different kinds of events
including kalesa (horse carriage) parade, fishing competition, abel house decor contest, carabao painting contest, traditional games, a trade and food fair and most especially the street dancing and showdown competition, which is gathered mostly by tourist, wherein participants use
“abel” or woven cloth costumes and sway in their original panagbatbat dances. Binatbatan dancing is associated to Vigan’s abel Iloco craft. The dance depicts how cotton pods are beaten with bamboo sticks to release the cotton fluff called “batbat” from its seed. This festival was started in 2002 to showcase this traditional weaving craft that is said to predate the arrival of the Spaniards. On the 3rd of May, the Feast of Apo Sto. Cristo Milagroso is observed with a mass at the Simbaan a Bassit. This is a significant religious celebration in Vigan due to the many instances that the city was said to be saved by the Apo.
Even in the pandemic, people are looking forward to this certain event, since they are used to commemorate it before. Moreover, this event really shows joyful colors which coats our town as a “World Heritage City” as Vigan is known for. Thus, let us continue in giving support and importance of our different cultures, not only because we are used to do or celebrate them, but it also indicates that we are proud and raising the value of our own arts and culture.
References:
https://www.vigan.ph/attractions/viva-vigan-festival-of-the-arts.html
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https://generosepomelo.com/2019/05/05/viva-vigan-binatbatan-festival-of-the-arts/
https://tawidnewsmag.com/viva-vigan-binatbatan-festival-of-the-arts/
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