by Kenneth K. Ong
The Kadayawan Festival is a celebration of the original ten tribes who populated the Davao region. With their colorful costumes and dances, the tribes lend their old culture and character to a city that is still, in my opinion, looking for its own identity in the long roster of global cities in the world.
Of course one may say that the cultural roots of Davao City extend deep into the lumad psyche but I argue though that Davao’s roots also expand far and wide given that the city is populated by peoples and cultures from all corners of the Philippines and beyond, myself included, forming a colorful tapestry of different beliefs, dialects, cuisines, generation and sub-cultures – a multi-cultural society if you will, that allows for a greater exchange of ideas, understanding and creativity.
One example where being a multi-cultural society allows for creativity and expression was during the Davao Cyber Expo that was recently held at SM City Davao.
It was a get-together of people who shared passions in not just geeky computer jargon but of people who were passionate about life. You have techies who were passionate about putting together the post powerful PCs in the most creative of cases and forms on one side of the venue while you have gamers who were ready to duke it out with other virtual gladiators in a game of “Defense of the Ancients.”
I was lucky I was able to get a good view though since I was given the daunting task of judging the finals of the COSPLAY “side event.” I hesitate to say side event since crowds of cosplayers and their rowdy supporters were present that day making SM City Davao seem like more like a page from a comic book or a video game. I was also lucky, because I was judging the COSPLAY event judging alongside none other than the Philippine COSPLAY goddess herself, Alodia Gosiengfiao, who was amazed at the sheer number and creativity of the local cosplayers.
And so after much judging and demoting, Chun Li won top pick, but in reality, everyone was a winner. Why you may ask? Well, consider this. The prizes were virtually nothing compared to the fact that every cosplayer spent a good amount of time and money to dress up as their favorite anime, comic or video game character. Even the people who modify their PCs from ordinary black boxes and turn them into a techie work of art spend thousands of pesos just to display their craft.
So why is everyone a winner here? It is because all the participants were able to express their souls. Their soul as one unified tribe in a festival of expression. The tribe of the youth, the creative and the hip. You have my respect and admiration!
