All set for North Cotabato Kalivungan Festival
TOURISM • 23:15 PM Tue Aug 30, 2016
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By:
John Unson
Dancers perform a dressed rehearsal of their September 1 ethnic dance at the opening program of the North Cotabato’s Kalivungan Festival. (JOHN UNSON)
KIDAPAWAN CITY -- All is set for the September 1 celebration of the 102nd founding anniversary of North Cotabato province, to be capped off with activities meant to highlight the ethnicity of the local communities.
The September 1 event is the start of the week-long Kalivungan Festival” in the province, which covers 17 towns and all 40 barangays in Kidapawan City, seat of the provincial government.
North Cotabato Gov. Emmylou Mendoza on Tuesday said she is expecting national and foreign dignitaries to come and witness the festivities.
The term kalivungan means special gathering, either for thanksgiving or inter-tribal dialogues, in most dialects of highland indigenous groups in North Cotabato.This year’s week-long provincial event will also showcase the agricultural productivity of the province, most known as fruit basket” of Central Mindanao.North Cotabato is popular for its exotic fruits from orchard farms owned by local Muslim, Christian and Lumad peasants.This year’s theme of the Kalivungan Festival, Cotabato Mahal Ko! Sama-Sama sa Hamon ng Panahon at Bagong Pag-asa,” is a tacit pitch for the interfaith solidarity now binding the culturally-diverse residents in the province, according to Mendoza.