The City Tourism Office of Davao City announced the schedule of the official activities lined up for the 80th Araw ng Dabaw celebrations this year during the Pulong Pulong ni Pulong held on Monday.
“This year will be about reconnecting to our roots and being proud that we are Dabawenyos,” said Gene Rose Tecson, City Tourism Operations Officer.
With the theme “Stand Tall. United. Resilient.”, the month-long festivity will start on March 1, with the Misa ng Pagpasalamat at the afternoon at the San Pedro Cathedral and the 80th Araw ng Dabaw Pasi-ugdang Pagsaulog in the evening at the Rizal Park.
Highlighting this year’s Araw celebration will be the Parada Dabawenyo on March 16, which will display colorful floats from Roxas-Rizal Park that will showcase Davao City’s cultural heritage and tell the story of the city’s roots and how it came to be the Davao that everyone knows today. On the evening will be Duyog Dabaw, A Celebration of Strength at the Rizal Park with Davao’s homegrown artists such as Popong Landero, Mebuyan and Joey Ayala.
On March 15, back-to-back will be the conferment of the highest award that the city government or the Datu Bago Awards will take place at the Royal Mandaya Hotel at six o’clock in the evening and the most prestigious Mutya ng Dabaw 2017 at the Davao City Recreation Center.
On its 80th celebration, the CTO has lined up new events for Araw ng Dabaw. This includes the Dabawenyo Ako!, which will be a series of interactive learning with tours and lectures which will take place on eleven (11) public schools in the districts of Davao city on March 1-3, 6-10 and 13-15. It will kick start in Magallanes Elementary School on March 1.
Another new event this year will be the LGBT Davao Celebration on March 12, which will be a night of talent and music that will be for the members of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender community.
The city government expects a big number of tourists to visit and celebrate Araw ng Dabaw especially because this year will be the first Araw that will be celebrated while Rodrigo Duterte, former city mayor, is president.
