Colorful tradition of fairs

FAIRS SERVED A PRACTICAL PURPOSE – What a combination – a five-day holiday, a proliferation of sales and a penchant for shopping here in the city and elsewhere in the country as the year 2012 comes to a close. Expected is a profusion of sweaty, inebriated local residents and visitors descent – sometimes literally – onto the streets to celebrate the onset of 2013, the Year of the Water Snake.
But before the finale of 2012, Davao City continues to be alive with lots of parties and merrymaking. People are expected to be upbeat, though many express concern about the coming year and their future. As the big hour approaches who can forget the bazaars and fairs in the community? The colorful tradition of local bazaars and, in particular fairs in the city traced its origin in the seasonal agricultural and food fairs held after a bountiful harvest. Although we can’t exactly remember the first recorded trade and agro fair in the city, perhaps we can widely guess that it’s more than three decades ago.
Fairs have always served a practical purpose – as a place for business and trade, primarily in crops and other agricultural goods, handicrafts, home-made food products, potteries and lately flowers and other ornamental plants. But as in the past, the principal attraction is as a community celebration – rural-oriented sights and sounds, food, contests and entertainment. One measure of the enduring popularity of fairs is that, in a name – overwhelmingly urban and suburban with every group or tribe has at least a participation usually held during the post-harvest and Christmas season.
A typical Christmas fair in the city features exhibits of grain, vegetables, variety of fruits, poultry and dairy products, other field crops, homegrown orchids and flowers, baked and canned goods. In short, fairs offer up just about anything that can be eaten, displayed or judged in a contest. Nevertheless, each participating group brings a different flavor to its exhibition – contests, games, magicians, sideshows and band concerts are just as common at many fairs today – all are part of the experience of traditional fairs whether in Metro Davao, Metro Cebu, Metro Manila, US, Canada or Europe.
Most fairs also take seriously their responsibility to judge prizewinning booths and products and to award either a certain amount of money or trophy to the best durian pies and other baked and processed food from the kitchens of Dabawenyo homes. From their beginnings, local fairs combined the serious business of agricultural trade with traveling carnivals. So, in addition to booths and store spaces with different products and other displays, most fairs have a midway packed with rides, snack and food stands, contests, bright lights and music. Fun houses hold distorting and scary sights; visitors try to pop balloons with darts or throw rings over empty bottles for a small stuffed-animal prizes; clowns and jugglers stroll along and entertain children.
Food is everywhere: cold lemonade, fruit-flavored drinks, soft drinks, hot dogs, burgers, pork and chicken barbecue, crushed-ice snow cones, ice cream, popcorn, peanuts – name it they all have it. And no fair is complete without the Ferris wheel, plus an assortment of roller coasters and other spinning, speeding, shaking and stomach-churning rides. But fairs also offer children the chance to see for themselves where the milk or a cloth in a store really comes from. Adults on the other hand come to the midway and become children they used to be and young couples discover the romance of fair grounds lights on a cheerful Christmas nights.
Everyone it seems, whether office worker, farmer, student, toddler, parents and grandparents love the city’s traditional Christmas trade fairs. We hope this inspiring piece will allow our readers and city denizens to share in this celebration of life in Davao City, and we wish you all a joyous and celebratory 2013. A Prosperous New Year and God speed!