It was the brightest and noisiest night in the city center. Thousands of people were gathered at the brightened Koronadal rotunda (roundball) that Sunday evening. The deafening drumbeats once again filled the air and it was complemented by stomps of hundreds of performers.
It’s the culmination night of Hinugyaw Festival which is also the 76th foundation anniversary of Koronadal City formerly called Marbel.
The mood fits the literal meaning of the festival name which comes from the word hugyaw, a Hiligaynon term for merrymaking. Children clad in colorful indigenous and folk costumes set the momentum of the celebration. When the street performers were called, history and colorful stories that contributed to what Koronadal is today were narrated in euphoric beats and heavy dances.
More than the beats and the dances, the street revelry is a history lesson in itself telling of the lives of the different ethnic groups (mostly of Christian pioneer settlers, the Maguindanaoan and the indigenous Blaan people) that inhabited Koronadal valley in the heart of South Cotabato province.
The following photographs capsulize the night that was during the Hinugyaw Festival 2016 culmination:
The city LGU’s very own Hinugyaw Cultural Dance Troupe
Oh, the Hinugyaw vibe.
Marbel Boy 