CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – The city government has launched the month-long Higalaay Festival 2023 and some residents are looking forward to seeing the street dancing competition on August 27.
NATIVE dancers perform in the Higalaay Carnival Street Dance Competition in Cagayan de Oro City on Aug. 26, 2022. (File photo courtesy of Rhoel Chaves Condeza, City Information Office)
Flordeliza Legaspo-Agbay, a student and businesswoman from Barangay Lapasan, said the Oro Higalaay Street Dance Festival and Competition is her favorite as it would showcase the talents of Kagay-anons.
"Ginapakita sab sa mga dancers kung unsa ang kultura dinhe sa syudad pinaagi sa sayaw (The dancers would also showcase what the culture is in this city through dancing)," Agbay said.
The Higalaay Festival is held every August 28 to celebrate the feast day of this city’s patron Saint Augustine.
The street dancing competition will start at 2 p.m. at Rotunda Circle and go to the Gregorio Pelaez Sports Center for the tableau presentation. Competing are Barangays Gusa, Puerto, Kauswagan, Barangay 1, Carmen, Macabalan, Canitoan, Consolacion, Lapasan, and Cugman.
COUNCILOR Jay Pascual (left), City Mayor Chief of Staff Shiela Lumbatan (center), and City Tourism Officer Rico Libre (right) answer questions from the media during the Higalaay Festival 2023 press conference at the Cagayan de Oro City Hall on Tuesday, Aug. 1. (Franck Dick Rosete)
Only 10 barangays have committed to join as the others did not have the financial capacity to pay expenses, said Marky Jalapadan, coordinator of the street dance competition.
Bianca Danika Pontillo, an employee from Barangay Kauswagan, is also looking forward to the event, which has been an annual tradition.
Mechie Mahayag will watch the street dancing competition because she enjoys watching various performances from different barangays. She is also looking forward to seeing the Civic Military Parade and Float this year – an event she used to join during her high school days as a member of her school’s drum and lyre corps.
The city government conducted the Carnival Street Dance in last year’s competition. This year, the dance and festival concept revolve around Cagayan de Oro’s colorful past and present historical, social, economic, and religious milestones, highlighting the thanksgiving and veneration of Saint Augustine.
There will be nine basic steps for this – Sapa, Suba or Kagay, Kugtong, Lukso sa bato and Lusong sa sulog sa tubig, Dulang sa bulawan, Bugsay sa kagay, Sakay sa rela, Higala kumusta, and Viva Senor San Augustine.
Jalapadan said all the steps should be incorporated into all of the performances during the tableau presentation.
THE schedule of events for the Higalaay Festival 2023. (Infographic by Higalaay Festival Facebook page)
Councilor Jay Pascual, chairperson of the committee on tourism, said the city government wants a grandiose Higalaay Festival this year, prompting them to allocate a P15 million-budget, much higher compared to the P2 million last year.
The bigger budget, Pascual said, would also encourage other people and groups to join as participants in the activities because of the doubled prizes compared to last year.
Aside from the street dance competition, Cassandra Micabalo of Barangay Camaman-an chose Miss Cagayan de Oro 2023 as her most anticipated event because she wants to see the result of her brother’s hard work mentoring a pageant candidate.
Jennifer Generalao of Barangay Kauswagan is looking forward to the Kagay-an Festival Marathon on August 20.
"I used to love an active lifestyle ever since, but I got so busy because of adulting. When I saw the (Festival Marathon) schedule, I was so very happy," Generalao said.
This year’s Higalaay Festival was launched on Tuesday evening, August 1. Aside from the 19 core events, there are also 49 parallel activities.
Agbay suggested to the city government to include a debate in the festival activities, with elementary students as participants, that would tackle the history and culture of Cagayan de Oro, and how to develop them in modern history.
Rico Libre, city tourism officer, said there are plenty of new activities for this year’s festival, which gives them hope that more visitors will come to the city.
To ensure peace and order during the month-long festival, the Cagayan de Oro City Police Office will deploy 160 personnel.
Aside from them, personnel from the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Department, the Philippine Coast Guard, the Bureau of Fire Protection, the Oro Task Force, the Roads and Traffic Administration, and barangay tanods will also be tapped.