Tag Archive for: Sibulan Yag yag Festival

Yag-Yag Festival

Yag-Yag Festival 2015

Yag Yag Festival 2015

The Yag-Yag Festival 2015 of Barangay Cangmating in Sibulan was nothing less than a huge success. The Float and Show Down winner of Buglasan 2014 demonstrated why they got the Top Spot at the Festival of Festivals last year. The DC-Team is totally undecided if the monkeys of the Pakol Festival in Sta. Catalina or the crablets of the Yag Yag Festival are their favorite.

Yag Yag Festival

One thing we recognized immediately when arriving in Sibulan were the bright stunning smiles of most Yag Yag Festival participants. We are not sure what the reason was but the DC Team sent the best looking photographer there, which is certainly a factor to have the ladies putting on their brightest smile… or maybe they were just laughing about him.

Yag-Yag Festival 2015

 

Sibulan yag-yag festival street dancing scene

Yagyag Festival in Sibulan

The Yagyag Festival in Sibulan is based on the spawning ritual performed by the thousands of land crabs such as the “Cagang” (cardisoma carnifes) and “Alalasan” (episesarman singaparense) along the shores and riverbanks of Barangay Cangmating during the last quarter of the year.

The phenomenon alerts the barrio folks to prepare their covered bamboo baskets (Bakat), torches made of dried coconuts leaves (sulo), and banboo crab traps (pasgong) to move out to the spawning grounds to gather the crabs.

This offers a livelihood income for the barrio folks as they can exchange or barter it with farm crops from neighboring barangays, aside from it its providing delicious scrumptious meals in their respective homes.

The Roots of YagYag Festival

Sibulan yag yag festival in Dumaguiete

From that lasting tradition the Yagyag Festival was born, to preserve and honor the custom of harvesting crabs during the Yagyag or spawning season. The Barangay government initiated holding the Yagyag Festival, six purok composing Barangay Cangmating enter into a friendly competition with each other by depicting or imitating the movements of the crabs during the courting, mating and spawning process.

The movements dramatize the traits inherent in the Filipino’s unity, solidarity, heroism, and self sacrifice to preserve the community and the nation.

To commemorate this generous natural resource, the Barangay folks stage the Yagyag Festival where imitate the movements of the land crabs in lively rhythms. The festival culminates in a celebration of the cycle of life those windows Cangmating with nutrition and livelihood.

The YagYag Street-Dance Competition

Sibulan yag-yag-festival

Sibulan yag-yag-festival

The competition is widely awaited by residents of neighboring barangays, municipalities and cities because of the very colorful and unique presentations, the skills and the ability of the dancers, their creativity in portraying the crabs as well as the camaraderie displayed by all residents before and during the festival.

A salient feature of the festival is the imitation and mimicking of the land crabs characteristics by demonstrating through dance their unity and  solidarity by keeping close ranks and moving along a common agenda that propagating their kind and of protecting their young. Through this tapestry and choreography, the crabs have renewed their existence in this unending cycle of life.

Sibulan yag-yag festival street dancing scene

Sibulan yag-yag festival street dancing scene

YagYag Festival – a True Champion

The festival has been adjudged the National Champion of the 2003 best of the bests, WOW Philippines best festival and street dancing and the 2005 Sinulog de Cebu street Dancing Competition Grand Champion.

Check out our gallery of Sibulan’s YagYag Festival 2014