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Cordillerean warrior woodcarving

ADIVAY FESTIVAL- Adivay is an Ibaloi word meaning thanksgiving and unity. Adivay festival is celebrated every November wherein the 13 municipalities of Benguet gather together. These 13 municipalities are: Atok, Bakun, Bokod, Buguias, Itogon, Kabayan, Kapangan, Kibungan, La Trinidad, Mankayan, Sablan, Tuba, and Tublay. The municipality of La Trinidad is the center and capital of the province of Benguet, Philippines. It is also where the Adivay festival is held every year.

Rodolf visits the province of Benguet (day version)

Rodolf visits the province of Benguet. (night version)

The Adivay Festival preserves the Benguet’s cultue and marks the province 112^th foundation festival. Some Benguet’s cultures that are shown during the festival are tayaw (native dance), playing the instruments gangsa (gongs) and solibao (native drum), wearing of native attires, and dongba ni kabajo (race of horses).

The Adivay Festival also composed of competitions between the 13 municipalities such as landscapes, booths, dance competitions and others.

Creative waterfalls landscape

The munipality of Atok’s wonderful landscape (day version)

Another amazing waterfalls landscape

Another amazing landscape made during the Adivay Fest

The municipality of Buguias’ booth with a large carrot attached

The municipality of Itogon’s booth showing their Christmas motif

The municipality of Atok’s booth with their homemade products such as baskets

The municipality of Bokod’s booth with their products as well such as native necklaces

The municipality of Mankayan’s simple yet beautiful booth

The municipality of Tuba’s booth full of rice wines, peanut butters and other homemade products

The municipality of La Trininidad dancing “tayaw” (native dance)

Unseen Beauties of Itogon, Benguet

My Beloved Province.

The beautiful mountains with the effect of striking blue color of Itogon, Benguet

The excellent place to relax

Itogon, Benguet is a province wherein plantation of oranges is also seen. The province is mountainous, peaceful, and beautiful. People living here are organized, friendly, hospitable, kind, and family-oriented.

Conserved yet beautiful.

My family and I went to our lovely province, Itogon, last November 1, 2012. We went there to visit and say hello to our relatives who passed away. They are my grandfather, grandmother, uncles, and cousin. We clean their graves then lit candles for them to have light and offer food for them to eat. In our culture, we believe that souls are watching over us and they need to be treated like they are still living so we offer them food and we talk to them in normal conversation. Our family and relatives do these every year to solemnly celebrate All Saints Day. We love our relatives who passed away and we missed them so much. So, by doing these, we can still feel their presence around us. We prayed for them and gather once again to offer them our love and to let them feel that we never forget them in our lives. They played big important role in ourlives and so we’re giving back their favors by remembering them for the rest of our lives.

In 10 o’clock in the morning, we arrive there and we start preparing the food, fetching water, and cleaning and repainting their graves. Even though it was a busy day, we still enjoyed working together. After finishing everything, we started praying for their souls and offering them food. We also eat our lunch together then later wash the dishes. Then our Itogon adventure begins. We went to the mountain, feel the pine breeze, and relax for a little bit. The air is so fresh and you can even smell nature from everywhere. You can feel the peacefulness and purity of the province. You can even appreciate the flowers scattered in the area and it so pretty. The pine trees are so cool; you can even find art in each of it. You can also view the famous Mt. Pulag from a distant and it is so wonderful. It is also a perfect place for mountain climbing. You can also enjoy the sunset and the view as well. My province is totally diverse and maybe one day, you will visit this wonderful province of mine and see it for yourself. 😀