Karatong Festival showcases Leyte town’s historic gallantry, culture
By: Jerome and Jenifer Bonto (Contributors)
- 5 years ago
Performers from the San Jose National High School danced their way to victory as they clinched the Grand Prize in the Karatong Festival held Saturday in the “Liberation Town” of Dulag, Leyte.
Six groups from different schools joined this year’s competition as the coastal town marked its 424th Foundation Day led by its mayor, Atty. Mildred Joy Que.
The Karatong Festival is an annual revelry with karatong at the center of the celebration. Karatong is a Waray term for bamboo percussion. The ancient people of Dulag used bamboos to warn the people of invaders such as pirates and tribesmen.
In this year’s competition, none of the participating schools resorted to hiring professional choreographers and musicians to develop their presentation. This as they accepted the challenge of Que to enhance Dulag’s own culture and arts.
The event coincides with the feast of the town’s patroness, Nuestra Señora del Refugio.
High school contestants parade with headpieces made of the native “pu-so.” MAPEH teachers, along with their students, created their own dance steps, music, and costumes using locally sourced materials.
The Dulag Karatong Festival strictly uses musical instruments made from bamboo. Sounding like a base guitar, big sized bamboos are hit by rubber slippers. Since 2013, Dulag, Leyte has been rising from the devastation wrought by Typhoon Yolanda. This year’s theme dubbed “Soar High, Dulag” highlights the resurgence of Dulag’s arts and culture with the karatong. The Karatong Festival symbolizes the vital role of arts and culture in reliving history, touching people’s hearts, inspiring the youth and building a meaningful community.
The festival uses “karatong” to depict local stories using movement, dance and visual arts. The karatong is a tuba gathering implement made of bamboo. However, by hitting the bamboo with a stick, it produces different sounds.
Ms Alliah Kristal Noblejas of Dulag National High School is the newly crowned Diwata Han Karatong 2019. Held at the Rose Bowl Stage, in Dulag on September 6, the teen beauty pageant was part of festivities to commemorate the town’s founding anniversary. The celebration engaged the community in many of the activities aimed at strengthening the sense of identity of Dulag and its proud heritage as a “Liberation Town.”
