TACLOBAN CITY- The Pintados-Kasadyaan Festival of Festivals parade will push through as planned on Thursday (June 27) at 8 am.
Thus said the organizers of the twin-bill festival amid information that the event has been cancelled or been moved to another date.
The Pintados-Kasadyaan Festival of Festivals is being held days ahead of the annual June 30 fiesta of Tacloban City paying homage to its patron, Senior Santo Niño.
The organizers said that the street parade will start at the Leyte Sports Center or Grandstand and will pass the major streets of Tacloban heading back to Grandstand for the ritual dance presentations.
Pintados Festival will only have three contingents, while four groups will participate in the Kasadyaan Festival of Festivals on June 27, expected to last less than in four hours.
The Kasadyaan participants are Pasaka Festival of Tanauan Leyte, Tolo-Usa Festival of Tolosa Leyte, Haru Tambalan Festival of Jaro, Leyte, and Macarato Festival of Matuguinao, Samar.
Palo Mayor Remedios ’Matin’ Petilla, chairperson of the Kasadyaan Festival of Festivals, said all participating contingents will receive P500,000 from the provincial government of Leyte as financial assistance and seed money for contingents.
Petilla and Eugene Tan, president of Pintados, said that despite of the few numbers of participants in this year’s festival, the Pintados-Kasadyaan Festival of Festivals will continue to stage the annual festivities as this is already part of the Tacloban fiesta celebration.
Now on its 24th year, the Leyte Kasadyaan Festival of Festivals brings together the diverse, vibrant and colorful festivals from the different towns in the province of Leyte and other participating festivals from its sister islands of Samar and Biliran, as well as other provinces in the Visayas.
It is one of the most awaited events of Tacloban City’s fiesta celebrations this month in honor of its patron, the Señor Sto. Niño de Tacloban.
Leyte’s festivals have brought fame and fortune to various champions, among them the Buyogan Festival of Abuyog, Burauen’s Buraburon, Tanauan’s Pasaka Festival, and Lingganay Festival of Alangalang, having bested other festivals in the country; and emerged as champions in such prominent festivals as Sinulog of Cebu and the annual national Aliwan Fiesta-Battle of Festival champions in Manila.
On the other hand, the Pintados Festival was first celebrated on June 29, 1987 when a group of businessmen belonging to the Pintados Foundation, Inc. came up with this event to showcase Leyte and Samar’s early tattooed inhabitants called Pintados, and their rich cultural heritage and indigenous music and dance.
In 1998, the Pintados and the Leyte Kasadyaan were merged into one big attraction called the Pintados-Kasadyaan Festival of Festivals.
(LIZBETH ANN A.ABELLA)
