kadayawan

Last week Davao celebrated the festival of Kadayawan, a festival celebrating the unique tribes that make up the city of Davao. Thursday evening we went downtown to People's Park, hoping to get in on some of the festivities. Since we could find no printed schedule of events, we knew we were taking a chance.

Unfortunately, when we arrived at 6:30, they were winding things up for the evening. We just got to see the very end of a children's dance, and to hear this musical group perform.

The park was full of people, and we were hopeful that maybe the performances would pick up again, but after a walk through the park...

...we came back to find the bandstand deserted.

Sunday morning was the big parade, and not being huge fans of largely populated spaces, we didn't work hard to go and see it, though we've heard that some of the floral floats are really spectacular. Maybe next year!
Early Sunday morning, around 6 a.m., we heard traditional Filipino bells/chimes being played in a sing-song way out in the street.
It went on and on. We finally went out to take a look.

Our next door neighbors were preparing their float for the parade!

There was a very festive air about the city all week, jeepney routes were skewed, and the streets were packed with people.

The President even declared Friday to be a non-working holiday for Davao residents so they could better participate in the festivities!