Who would have thought that there
is a festival honoring a food item that I can’t eat due to medical
reasons? Yes, I am talking about that
side walking, ten legged sea creature called crabs or locally known as alimango – loved by the majority and adverse
to some.
In Lanao Del Norte, Mindanao,
there is a municipality there named Lala that celebrates the Alimango Festival every near end of
March. This celebration is not only in
honor of crabs but also an environmental call to take care of the place where
crabs reside. Being prime exporters of
the region of the said commodity, it is no wonder that people gave full support
to the celebration.
Invited by Regional Director
Marie Elaine Unchuan of the Department of Tourism for Region 10, The Big
Difference Communications (TBDC), came to take part in the celebration as
guest; guests who have fun moments during the said festival. There were food stalls all around the plaza, various
items such as balloons and accessories were also being sold and food were sponsored
for all dance participants by your one and only happy bug (Jollibee).
The cultural dance competition
was a delight to watch! Schools in the
area joined in the competition and truly showed their best despite the heat and
dust in the town plaza. There were some
notable performers and interpretation to the story of the crabs in Lala that
you would be captivated with the show of grace, coordination and colors. The only thing outshining all the dances was
the mountain of cooked crabs waiting to be shared and eaten by all.
One thing truly worth mentioning
is the support shown by all units of the Lala, may it be from the private
sector or local government unit. The
crowd present then were full of positive energy that it is quite impossible not to have a smile on
your face. Up to now, I can still smell
the mountain of crabs displayed then. To
tell you that only local people came in to support the festivities in an
understatement when you have the Canadian born blogger of BecomingFilipino (KULAS) was present as one of the guest. He even sang Tong, Tong, Tong Pakitong-kitong.
Unfortunately, we were not able
to note who the winners were for the cultural dance event but definitely it was
fun, fun FUN – just to be surrounded by all that joyful energy! Who would have thought there is this type of festival and level similar to festivities in big cities such as Cebu and Baguio? The level of participation of people speaks volume of the municipality's management. I will try to go there next year and bring
along friends to experience that festival for alimango’s.
Watch out for the photo album of this event!
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