The History of Bonga Festival in Sibonga, Cebu.
Are you familiar with the festivities held in every place of the country or in the world? There are really a lot of festivities nowadays. But first, let me ask you, what is a festival or a festivity?
Festival
is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. Next to religion and folklore, a significant origin is agricultural. Food is such a vital resource that many festivals are associated with harvest time. Religious commemoration and thanksgiving for good harvests are blended in events that take place in autumn, such as Halloween in the northern hemisphere and Easter in the southern.
Since I live in Sibonga, Cebu, let me give you some information about what festival we have.
Sibonga has a known festival held every 9th and 10th of August. It is the BONGA FESTIVAL which is a lively thanksgiving celebration for the abundance of the town's natural and food resources.
The term "BONGA" came from the English word, "fruit" or in wider meaning, "harvest". This is somewhat like a direct Bisaya translation of such word since it reflects what the town has.
The celebration is about to give honor to the town's patron saints - St. Filomena and Our Lady of the Pilar. The feast celebration is celebrated annually and has developed into a more colorful and vibrant festivity while still keeping the very basic sense, a religious tone. They will have a solemn parade which is being accompanied by performers having a very colorful costume and elaborative paraphernalia.
St. Filomena
Source
Our Lady of the Pilar
Source
Nowadays, the Thanksgiving and prayerful celebration are now being helped and organized by the officials of the town of Sibonga to mainly promote the place as a fruit producer and a very fertile town.
Since the celebration started, the contingents of the competitions were mainly or limited to school students only. However, the town's mayor and the organizers of the 2015's years celebration included various sectors in the community which will furtherly encourage participation in the festival event.
For the ritual showdown dancings, elementary students and high school students are the usual and traditional contingents. However, this time more sectors have been taken in including senior citizens group, women’s organization and an LGBT group (BAKHLAH) among other sectors of Sibonga’s community.
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