This is the Kagay-an Festival Week, the climax of the month long celebration of the feast of the city’s patron saint, St. Augustine.
A line-up of weeklong activities for the Cagayan de Oro Kagay-an Festival 2008 is already getting to be exciting as celebrities are set to invade the city to join in the celebration. GMA Network will be covering the whole event which started with the opening of the Kahimunan Mindanao Island Fair last Friday, August 22, at Limketkai Atrium, of which GMA will also be participating and will be setting up a Kapuso Booth for fun and games.
Last Sunday, DJ Ardie and DJ Shai of GMA Campus Radio hosted the “Live Talk Show” also at the Limketkai Atrium during the Kahimunan which was followed by the GMA Variety Show at 6:00 PM.
Last week Marc Nelson was the guest in the Ms. Kagay-an Talent Competition at the SM City Atrium.
On Tuesday, August 25, Angelica de la Cruz is expected to join the Ms. Kagay-an Pageant and Coronation Night as celebrity judge while Mark Herras will be assisting in the question and answer portion during the pageant night.
The following day on August 27, 7:00 AM, GMA Network will participate in the Golden Float Parade and Mark Herras will escort Ms. Kagay-an 2008 winner at the Kapuso Float.
The Unang Hirit Barkada and other celebrities will be flying in to Cagayan de Oro for the live telecast of the Lambagohan Fluvial Parade on August 28 at 5:30 AM and will be featuring the best of Cagayan de Oro crafts, delicacies and adventure tourism. As the evening approaches, kapuso guest stars Nadine Samonte of Kim Sam Soon, Bellie and Cookie of Nuts Entertainment, Ram Chavez of Pinoy Idol, Jolina Magdangal and other surprise guests will party at Limketkai Atrium for the Kapuso Night.
On August 29, 5:00 PM, SM City CDO will be sponsoring the “Proudly Kagay-an: The Best of Kagay-anon Talents” with Ram Chaves of Pinoy Idol as their special guest.
Globe Philippines also brought in Cesar Montano for the ‘TM Power Piso Tour” last August 23 at the Amphitheater, Divisoria and on August 27, Shamrock Band and Hot Babe Ms. Jaycee Parker will grace Globe’s main event.
Meanwhile, a total of 13 contingents from Cagayan de Oro and Misamis Oriental will clash on August 26, 2008 in a narrative dance competition dubbed as the “Higaonon Dance Festival 2008” with a whopping P550,000 in cash prizes at stake.
The “Higaonon Dance Festival 2008” is a street parade and dance showdown depicting the indigenous tradition of the Higaonons, an indigenous tribe in Mindanao, committee chairperson Eileen San Juan said.
The grand prize winner will receive a cash prize of P200,000 plus trophy, while the first runner-up and second runner-up will get P150,000 and P100,000, respectively plus trophies. Non-winning contingents will also receive P10,000 each as consolation prizes, San Juan added.
The street parade starts at 8:00 o’clock in the morning and ends at the showdown venue. Parade assembly venue, parade route and showdown venue will be announced by the organizers later.
Along the parade route, three judges will be deployed in various stations where contingents can perform for a maximum of three minutes using a unified Higaonon musical beat and melodies that serve as the main tune to be played all throughout the street dancing.
Costumes must be nearest to the original Higaonon traditional garb with the dominant color of red, in combination with gold, black and white.
The street dancing competition accounts 50% in judging the top winners, while the remaining 50% will be based on the contingents’ performance during the final showdown competition.
Participating contingents from Cagayan de Oro include Barangay Kauswagan, Barangay 20, Barangay Consolacion, Barangay 35, Barangay 31, Barangay 30, Barangay 1, Barangay Bayanga, and Barangay Lapasan, while participating groups from Misamis Oriental are from the municipalities of Jasaan and Balingasag and St. Mary’s Academy in Gingoog City.
The “Higaonon Dance Festival 2008” is one of the five core events featured in the Kagay-an Festival 2008, a signature festival of the city’s fiesta on August 28, which is spearheaded and organized by the Promote CdeO Foundation, Inc. under president Ruben Vegafria.
Other major events include the “2nd Golden Float Parade Competition” on August 27; “Lambagohan”- the famous fluvial parade at the Cagayan de Oro River on August 28; “Kahimunan Mindanao 2008”- a trade fair and exhibit of Mindanao’s best products on August 22-25 and the “Ms. Kagay-an 2008” beauty pageant. -Mindanao Current
