AGUINALDO, Ifugao, April (PIA) – – People in this town showcased their cultural and traditional practices through ethnic games, songs and dances and their municipality as home of bounty and adventure with their festival known as “Apar Ad Aguinaldo.”
The 5-day festival from March 28 to April 1 with the theme “Exhibiting Cultural Bounty and Adventures for Progress,” coincided with the 38th founding anniversary of the municipality.
“Apar” means a hunting camp for wild animals or fish. The various activities and products were aimed to give a glimpse of Aguinaldo being a home of bounty and adventures with its vast agricultural plantations of corn, rice and bananas, pasture and grazing lands for cattle because of its rolling hills, scenic mountains among them the so-called “Sleeping Dinosaur”, waterfalls and sea of clouds.
Activities included a cultural parade, and a mini trade fair featuring Ifugao products like furniture, carved small items, weaved products, processed foods and other products. There was also an ethnic skills competitions like weaving using bamboo strips.
The Eagle of the Mountain was a fun bike from a 6-kilometers category to 11-kilometers from which the participants can choose; the Trailblazing was a 40-kilometer race from Barangay Ubao to Galonogon passing several sitios along the national road while the Eco-Walk involved a 10-kilometer distance exploring the beauty of Sitio Lubuan of Ubao and Sitio Paguiid of Galonogon.
The Ifugaos are also known for their love for traditional games such as the tug-of-war, munbayu (pounding rice), kadan kadang, muntalakid, manglon (splitting wood), marathon in G-strings, bultong (wrestling), hanggor (arm wrestling), akkad (stilt walking), and other ethnic sports.
Cultural events capped the daily activities.
The creation of Aguinaldo as a municipality is like the journey of hunters setting up their “Apar” and claiming them as their own which is distinct and separate from others, Arsenio Yongoyong of Barangay Halag said.
The town of Aguinaldo is the first town to celebrate its festival this year. **JDP/DBC-PIA CAR, Ifugao
