Tawo Tawo Festival 2024

Bayawan City – Negros Oriental

Bayawan City celebrated the famous Tawo Tawo Festival 2024 last February 16 with a colorful street dancing parade through the streets of the city. Also known as scarecrow-festival, it celebrates and symbolizes gratitude for a bountiful harvest. The weather gods were undecided, and therefore the 2024 festival was a bit a mixed affair. However, the clouds and a bit drizzle could not hold back the crowds to line up along the streets to watch the well-choreographed dances of the several contingents.

The annual Tawo Tawo Festival was held February 16, 2024. This festival is absolutely unique and enjoyable. With colorful costumes, rice field crops and small kids dressed in bird costumes, even an old man watching TV would get up and dance with the Latin and Samba drum beats.

Tawo Tawo Festival and its History

Back in the days when farming was the means of livelihood in any province here in Negros Oriental, crows were the most hated creatures ever in the rice fields. Of course, farmers didn’t want to kill any of these lovely crows or maya birds, so they decided to invent something to drive them away. Thus, the Tawo Tawo Festival was born. The term “tawo-tawo” literally means person-person (or person like). The tawo-tawo, better known today as scarecrows, drove the crows or maya birds away making the town happy again with the harvest.