General Santos City, which is popularly known as Gensan and as the Philippine's tuna capital, is celebrating its 74th Foundation Day tomorrow, 27 February. This reminds me of the fun memories my husband and I had when we attended and did a festival shoot together for the first time. That was for the Kalilangan Festival street dance parade/competition or Kadsayagan in Gensan.
The Kalilangan Festival derives its name from the Maguindanaoan dialect "kalilang", which means festivity. This festivity is a month-long celebration for the people of Gensan, which culminates every 27th of February thru the Kadsayagan. Apart from the Tuna Festival where Gensan is also famous for, the Kalilangan Festival is considered a big celebration in Gensan and draws Filipino and foreign tourists to the city. This festival shows off the admirable, colorful and diverse culture of Gensan through a number of sports activities, shows and parades. In fact, the Kalilangan Festival bagged the Best Tourism Event for Culture and Arts Category by the Association of Tourism Officers in the Philippines three times - in 2009, 2011 and 2012!
There's something about the ethnicity of Mindanao that never fails to impress me (and my 'About Me' page surely proves this :D). Being able to witness the Kadsayagan during the Kalilangan Festival made me appreciate Mindanao's colorful culture all the more.
To relive the happy times of the street dance parade (and the happy times of the street food galore :D) as well as to cheer the performers of the street dance competition tomorrow, let me share my favorite photos of the Kadsayagan in Gensan way back 2011. Happy Kalilangan my favorite food haven, Magandang Gensan! :)
And here are our vanity shots! :)
By the way, thank you very much Edmar Talacan for giving us tips on participating for this particular event. :)
And thank you Gensan for never failing to make my stomach happy! :)
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