Albay to kick off Cagsawa Fest to rev up tourism drive
DARAGA, Albay, Philippines — This province’s newest and most historic tourism attraction, the Cagsawa Festival, will soon kick off in a move to rev up the local government’s tourism campaign.
Albay Gov. Joey Salceda said the provincial capitol and the municipal government of Daraga have forged a partnership to make Cagsawa another important festival like Magayon and Karangahan.
The month-long festival starts at the historic and world — famous Cagsawa Ruins Park, which has the remains of a church belfry and tumbled bricks that show the era of Spanish settlement.
The church and the settlement were buried after the violent eruption of Mayon volcano, which also killed thousands of people, in 1814.
The festival aims to put on center stage Mayon volcano and the Cagsawa ruins, recently declared a national park.
“The festival aims to celebrate the indomitable spirit and resilience of Albayanos, and not the memory of the disaster’s horrors,” Salceda said.
“It will also offer tourists something more deeply cultural and meaningful than just walking around and taking souvenir shots and watching the world-famous scenery many see only on postcards,” he added.
For the whole month of February, the festival will showcase over 50 sports and cultural events, including a competition in the native art of self-defense arnis and a demonstration-summit of traditional healers or “herbolarios.”
The festival will also feature on the spot the “pamaypay” (hand fan), other handicraft-making contests, and once-in-a-lifetime journey into the culinary world of the famous hot chili, known locally as “lada,” beyond the limits of the traditional “Bicol Express” cuisine.
Aside from the Cagsawa Festival, Salceda said another new festival, Culinaria Albay, would be launched in August.
The August festival is a spin-off from Albay’s Green Christmas celebration known as Karangahan.
Overall, Albay will have four major festivals, one every quarter of the year — Cagsawa in February; Magayon in April-May, celebrating all things beautiful in the province and has been running for many years now; Culinaria Albay in August, showcasing the province’s native and new cuisines; and Green Christmas Karangahan Festival, featuring environment-friendly Christmas decors and products and promoting the safe celebration of the Yuletide season.
