Laoag City transitions from Tan-ok to Aliwan festival

By Dominic B. dela Cruz

Staff reporter

Laoag City—After topping the Tan-ok Ni Ilocano, Festival of Festivals, Laoag City’s Pamulinawen Festival will now be showcased again in the national Aliwan Festival in April next year.

Laoag Mayor Chevylle V. Fariñas disclosed that winning for three consecutive years in the grandest festival in the province and in the process gaining a “Hall of Fame” award is an honor for all Laoagueños.

After the event, Ms. Fariñas said the city plans to join the Aliwan Festival after the city’s Tan-ok contingent, composed mostly of children, requested that they join the national festival in Manila.

Aliwan Festival is an open competition of festivals that features contests in dance, floats and the Reyna ng Aliwan search.

Laoag regularly joins the said festival and has in fact also been enshrined in the Hall of Fame for the float competition,

This time, however, Ms. Fariñas said Laoag will also feature the same presentation from the Tan-ok festival; the choreographer would just tweak the presentation for the nationwide tilt.

She said the city’s contingent will give its best for the festival especially since next year would also be Laoag’s golden anniversary as a city.

Meanwhile, Ms. Fariñas thanked all the city’s participants in the Tan-ok festival, especially the children, choreographers, props people and the parents who allowed their children to practice and participate.

She stressed that the victory is for all the people of Laoag who prayed hard and gave their moral support.

The mayor also disclosed that she will meet with the choreographers and the dancers on what to do with the P350,000 cash prize.

Earlier, The Ilocos Times learned that Laoag funded the city’s participation in the provincial festival with an estimated P1 million budget.

Ms. Fariñas however emphasized that it is not about amount spent or the cash prize but the fame and glory for the city and its people.

Over-all choreographer Christian Espiritu was also overwhelmed by the result, especially in winning for three consecutive years.

Mr. Espiritu said this is again another achievement for the city after it was awarded as a Hall of Famer in the province-wide competition.

Mr. Espiritu explained that this year’s participation deviated from the past as they focused on kids as dancers.

As for the cash prize, the participants proposed an equal sharing for all the 160-strong contingent plus a victory party for them.

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