August 19, 2003
A day with Dina B.

BIOESSENCE Serenity Spa, in its celebration with the Dabawenyos' prestigious Kadayawan Festival, brings to you Dina Bonnevie on Aug. 21. It will be an afternoon of cozy interaction up close with the multi-talented actress.

A short press conference will be held inside the Bioessence compound, followed by a quick motorcade around the city.

Bonnevie, the official endorser of Bioessence Serenity Spa, will be in Davao for a short rest and recreation and also in time to witness the ongoing festivities of Kadayawan. This is going to be her first trip in the city.

For more inquiries, call or visit Bioessence Serenity Spa at 224-0359 and 224-0361. Bioessence wishes to thank its co-sponsors Marco Polo Hotel and Barcelo Pearl Farm Resort. Sun.Star Davao

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Kadayawan's erotic side at Rizal Promenade

IN LINE with the Kadayawan 2003 events, Davao's premiere party organizer
Behind the Seen cooks up two days of back to back sensual fun, erotic rhythm and frolic for the people who are not afraid to be different and daring.

At 10 p.m. Wednesday, August 20, hip-grinding music starts the ball rolling at "Bootylicious", as Rizal Promenade gears up for a club event the whole night with BBC Manila's top DJs -- DJ Mars and DJ Teaze for a night of hiphop and R&B that transports us in time -- from the past discotheque mania to the present hot rhythms that kick ass.

MC Mike Cons will beckon everyone to party till we drop.

Mood and excitement shifts to higher gear at the Rizal Promenade once more on Thursday at 10 p.m. A hotter mood when your party title becomes Naked!

Led by the popular and "infamous" Miguel Migs, San Francisco's Naked Music has wowed audience not just in the United States, but in Europe and Asia as well.

Now, for the first time in Davao's long party history, Behind the Seen and BBC Manila bring you a titillating evening of Naked Music and sexy, sensual fun as the sexy and soulful House music is served San Francisco style, featuring BBC's very own Carlo Ching.

The two successive nights promise to be a revelation in music and in Davao's hip party set. Only those in the know can truly appreciate the power of uninhibited dancing to good music. Even the uninitiated will come in and join the fun.

Get BOOTYLICIOUS and NAKED and come dressed in your finest. Surprises you never dreamed of are in store. Just let your hair down, strip (yourself of inhibitions) and get nasty for once.

For tickets and inquiry, call Behind the Seen office at 20 Arellano St. Davao City at tel. nos. 305-5172 or 3055172 or email behindtheseen_company@yahoo.com. Co-Presenters are Globe Gentext, San Miguel Beer, Rizal Promenade. Major sponsors are Coca-Cola and Marco Polo Hotel Davao. Sun.Star Davao

THE Kadayawan sa Davao Foundation, Inc. encourages amateur and professional photographers, excluding members of the organizing committee, to join the photo contest highlighting the different events during the celebration from Aug. 18 to 24.

Each photo entry should portray this year's celebration in a form of photo essay composed of five photographs taken from different events, thus, participants should know and understand fully the meaning of Kadayawan.

Interested participants should register first with the Kadayawan sa Dabaw Festival secretariat in any of the offices in Kadayawan sa Davao Foundation, Inc. at the 3/F Lourdes Building, Lapu-lapu St. Agdao, City Tourism Office, and Minfed office at Atis St., Juna Subdivision Matina.

On Aug. 15, registrants will be briefed about contest rules at the food court of the Kadayawan agro-fair grounds at SM City from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. All entries must be submitted to the Secretariat Office on or before Aug. 29 until 5 p.m. only. AAG

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Kalendaryo works at Dugukan Gallery

FOR the upcoming 2003 Kadayawan Festival sa Dabaw, Dugukan Gallery presently features art works from the 2003 Peraa (Private Education Retirement Annulty Association) Calendar. The exhibition is aptly called Kalendaryo.

Eleven works from the Davao Artists' Foundation Inc. (Dafi) highlighted monthly in the calendar will be on view until August 20. Kalendaryo is one of the highlights of the MTS Strip Art Fest of the Matina Town Square in the coming Kadayawan sa Dabaw.

The featured works are created by James S. Gonzales, John Joseph Rom, Rogelito D. Cayas Jr., Victor Espinosa, George T. So, Veronica V. Tradio, Bryan Cabrera, Rena B. Jereos, Abraham A. Garcia Jr., Norman Narciso and Alfred L. Perolino.

Also on view are calendar work reproductions by Ricky T. Villafuerte, Arnel S. Villegas, Jose Adolfo C. Buenaventura, Errol M. Saldaña, Dante R. Pintor and Walter Dave Echanez.

Dugukan Gallery is open to the public, free of admission, daily from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m., except on Sundays.

Dugukan Gallery is situated within the Matina Town Square complex along
McArthur Highway, Matina, Davao City.

For further information and Gallery appointments please contact: George
(227-6418/0916-629-8102) and Jun (0917-997-6030). Sun.Star Davao

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SM City Davao goes all-out for Kadayawan

KADAYAWAN'S biggest events will all happen at SM City Davao this August. As platinum sponsor of the Kadayawan 2003, SM City Davao will host almost all major events of the Festival of all Festivals, to be spiced up with an extravagant Kadayawan week-long mall-wide sale.

For starters, the Agro-Trade Fair is now open until Aug. 24 at SM City grounds near Parking B, fronting SM City's south entrance. High School and elementary students can enter the fair for free while non-students are charged P4.

Hiyas sa Kadayawan 2003 is all set to romp on Aug. 15 at 6 p.m. at the ground floor Atrium for the Hiyas Fashion showcase of all 12 candidates. Hiyas sa Kadayawan grand finals and coronation night will be on Aug. 20 at the Entertainment Plaza at 7 p.m.

Expect a pageant sensational as July Palermo, last year's Hiyas who will also grace the finals night. Urog Etnika entries of the Hiyas ng Kadayawan will also be judged and showcased here at the mall beginning Aug. 20 until Aug. 24 at the South Gallery near Wonderland.

It will be a showcase of Mindanaoan culture through indigenous dance showdown with the Mindanao Indigenous Dance Festival grand finals on Aug. 22, 7 p.m. at the Entertainment Plaza. As a prelude to this event, the Davao Indigenous People's Festival will give us a glimpse of Davao indigenous culture at 1 p.m. at the Entertainment Plaza on the same day.

Make your weekend big on Aug. 23 with the Big Men at the Entertainment Plaza at 4 p.m. and Yugyugan with Energy FM at the Bus Terminal at 8 p.m., and Troy Montero on Aug. 24 at the Entertainment Plaza at 4 p.m.

Meanwhile, experience the Festivals of the Island at the Mindanao Festivals Exhibit on August 18 to 24 at the South Gallery, Level 2 Hallway near Ace Hardware. Celebrate the Japanese Centennial through the Japanese Centennial Memorabilia Exhibit also on Aug. 18 to 24 at the Level 2 Hallway and through the Ikebana International Exhibit on Aug. 21 to 24.

Culminate your Kadayawan celebration at the Floral Float viewing of entries at the Bus Terminal on Aug. 24 from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. Sun.Star Davao

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Mindanao tribes gird for Kadayawan showdown

INDIGENOUS People from various tribes in Mindanao are girding for a musical showdown dubbed as "Agongan ug Kulintangan" during this year's Kadayawan sa Dabaw festival.

Kadayawan executive committee chair Id Acaylar of the City Tourism Office
(CTO) said the event will showcase for the first time purely indigenous musical performances to underscore the need to preserve Mindanao's cultural wealth.

To be held at the Gaisano Mall on August 21, lumads are expected to display their dexterity and musical talents with the agong, kulintang, gabang and other indigenous musical instruments.

Acaylar said the Kadayawan committee has gone out of its to identify authentic indigenous musical players in various tribes in Mindanao and invite them to join the musical festival.

With indigenous music fading fast in the wake of Western influences, he said the committee wanted to perpetuate it with recorded versions that would later be distributed to schools.

"If we are able to do this (the indigenous music festival), hopefully in three years, we could have a competition among our young people who would be playing indigenous music instruments and in the process, preserve the very precious tradition and art," he said.

This year's Kadayawan sa Dabaw festival banners the theme, "Duaw, Duyog sa Kadayawan sa Dabaw 2003". Duaw means "come and visit Davao" and Duyog, " celebrate with us."

Kadayawan comes from the word "Madayaw", a warm welcome and friendly greetings derived from a Dabawenyo word "Dayaw", that means good. It is also used to describe anything that is valuable, superior or beautiful.

The thanksgiving festival was institutionalized in 1986, then called Apo Duwaling to stand for the city's best known symbols -- Mount Apo, durian and waling-waling. Two years later, it was renamed Kadayawan.

This year's Kadayawan festival opens on Aug. 18 with Pamukaw, a dawn serenade by lumads reminding Davaoeños of their ancestral beginnings. Indigay sa Lumadnong Dula, to be held Aug. 18 and 19, is an array of indigenous games and traditional community sports participated by indigenous people, barangay folks and youths to foster cross-cultural relations, cooperation and unity and nurture the city's culture of peace.

The Pasalamat on Aug. 18 is the formal opening and thanksgiving of the Kadayawan sa Dabaw Festival with holy mass offering, ecumenical prayers and tribal showcase.

The Ginoong Kadayawan on Aug. 19 is a musclemen's competition in search of the best physique to epitomize the native's "bagani" or warrior.

The Home Bio-system Congress on Aug. 20 is a gathering of exponents, proponents and subscribers of the home bio-system technology that addresses solid waste management at the barangay or community level.

The Hiyas sa Kadayawan will also be held on the same day. It is a search for the Festival Queen with Mindanaoan appeal to promote Davao City's and Mindanao's indigenous products and industries.

The Mindanao Indigenous Dance Festival will be held from Aug. 20 to 22. It is a dance competition done in a theatrical presentation, depicting Mindanao's epics, folklore and traditions.

The Davao River Festival on Aug. 21 is a celebration done in the city's historic river to bring to the fore the beginnings of the Davao community and the ecological concerns of Dabawenyos. It will be highlighted by banca and kayak races and a parade of colorful river floats.

On Aug. 22, the Davao Indigenous People Festival will pay tribute to tribal elders and foster inter-generational legacy. Various Davao tribes will present their "bya-nengs" or tribal muses. There will also be a Bagobo horsefight, where native-bred stallions fight for a mare.

Indak-indak sa Kadalanan on Aug. 23 will be a celebration of dancing in the streets. By night, there will be dancing with Yanog ug Yugyugan sa Kadalanan. Live bands and FM stations will provide the music.

On Aug. 24, the Floral Float Parade will showcase Davao's abundant flowers and vegetation. Halad ni Mayor will be a thank-you concert by the country's top bands and entertainers hosted by City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte.

Aside from the scheduled events, there will also be continuing events throughout the month, such as the Mindanao Festivals, Agro-Industrial Trade Fair, Dagway Kadayawan, Davao Art Exhibit, and the Floriculture Exhibit. <b>Sun.Star Davao</b>

ON AUG. 18 to 24, all roads will lead to Davao City as it celebrates what promises to be a grand 18th Kadayawan sa Dabaw Festival.

With less than four weeks more before the Festival of Festivals reels off, organizers led by its chair Id Acaylar of the City Tourism Office and president Susan Durano of the Southern Mindanao Tourism Council, are in a flurry of preparations, all geared towards making this year's celebration bigger and better than the previous year.

This, despite budgetary constraints as the organizers wait for more sponsorships/donations to come in and complete the P7 million to P8 million fund requirements.

Acaylar said: "To attract visitors to the city during the week-long festival, we have come up with a grand celebration that will showcase the tourism potentials of the city. We look forward to having more domestic tourists visit our city."

He explained that they have invited neighboring provinces to showcase their indigenous festivals, arts and culture as well as their tourism potentials so that they can eventually find markets for whatever they have to offer.

"We want Davao City to be the leader in these activities, thus strengthening the relationships among cities and provinces in this part of Mindanao."

As far as security is concerned, Acaylar said the police and Task Force Davao are deploying 1,000 more cops to secure the festival. He assured everyone, especially visitors, that things are back to normal in Davao City.
"It's business as usual and our lovely city pulsates with life."

This year's Kadayawan starts with "Pamukaw", a musical wake-up call by the "lumads" around the city, followed by a holy mass of thanksgiving, ecumenical prayers and tribal showcase.

On Aug. 18 to 19, there will be an array of indigenous games and traditional community sports participated in by indigenous people, barangay folks and the youth. Called "Indigay sa Lumadnong Dula," the event aims to foster cross-cultural relations, cooperation and unity as well as nurture the culture of peace.

If there is a competition among women, the men cannot be far behind. Called "Ginoong Kadayawan," the competition will be a search for the best physique to epitomize the natives' bagani, the ideal Mindanaoan.

On Aug. 21, it will be a search for the festival queen, the "Hiyas sa Kadayawan," with a pageant and fashion extravaganza, focusing on the city's products and industries particularly tourism, fashion and floriculture.

Prelims for the Mindanao Indigenous Dance Festival will be held on Aug. 20 to 21, with the finals on Aug. 22. The dance competition will depict indigenous epics, folklore and tradition.

Aug. 21 should be an interesting day. There will be a Davao River Festival or a celebration focusing the beginnings of the Davao community, highlighted by banca and kayak racing and parade of colorful river floats.

Another tourist attraction will be the Agongan and Kulintangan, a competition of musical skills in the playing of agong, kulintang, gabang and other indigenous musical instruments.

As a tribute to tribal elders, the Davao's Indigenous People Festival will be held on Aug. 22, showcasing a tapestry of Davao's rich culture and culminating in songs, dances and presentation of various tribes.

This day will also witness the famous Bagobo horsefight.

The next day, Aug. 23, is devoted to dancing -- "Indak Indak sa Kadalanan" will be a people's celebration through street dancing, while the "Yanog Ug Yugyugan sa Kadalanan" will be disco dancing on the streets to the sounds of the bands and FM stations.

Highlight of the Kadayawan Festival will be the Floral Float Parade on Aug. 24, showcasing the abundant vegetation of the Davao region. On this day will be also be held "Halad ni Mayor sa Dakbayan, a thank-you concert hosted by Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, featuring the nation's top bands and entertainers.

In the words of Acaylar: "Kadayawan is a grand celebration of life, a thanksgiving for the gifts of nature, the wealth of culture, the bounties of harvest and the serenity of living." Sun.Star Davao

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