Tabuk City to celebrate Matagoan Festival

TABUK CITY, Kalinga: After a two-year hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the people of Tabuk City will celebrate the Matagoan Festival next month.

This year's celebration, however, will have a few changes, but organizers promise to deliver a spectacular experience to tourists and Tabukeños alike.

The festival will start with the grand opening ceremony on June 22 dubbed as "Cultural Day" led by Mayor Darwin Estrañero and other officials.

The Matagoan call or "ayag" precedes the opening ceremony. It is followed by the "Matagoan run," in which participants dressed in traditional Kalinga clothes engage in a foot race.

The Cultural Day will conclude with an indigenous music concert at the City Hall grounds.

The following day will be the "Agri-Vet and Cooperative Day" that features a dog show, a pig-catching competition, a trade fair, an "agri-lympics," and a skills and employment fair.

Due to time constraints, the street dance competition and the Miss Tabuk pageant will not be staged this year. The pageant, however, will be replaced by the Matagoan Fashion Show on June 23.

The most important day of the festival — the 15th anniversary of Tabuk City on June 24 — will feature a motorcade and float parade in the morning followed by the 15th anniversary program which is expected to be graced by high-profile guests.

A fellowship lunch and a fellowship night will also be held with celebrity guests.

The anniversary day will end with a grand fireworks display.

Apart from the festival week, the public can look forward to several pre-events including a bikefest on June 18, a trade fair and food bazaar from June 21 to 30, and the mobile PRC licensing activity on June 21.

The Matagoan Festival was first celebrated in June 2002 as a reference to Tabuk City's role as a "zone of life" in the context of the "bodong" (peace pact) system.

Source: TheManila Times