Binatbatan Festival
In honor of National Heritage Month, with the theme “VICTORY and HUMANITY: Upholding Filipino Heritage and Identity”, we celebrate our cultural heritage and what makes us uniquely Filipino. Even in times of crisis, we still continue to cherish and uphold our values as a community.
Just as we observe NHM, we also recognize a tradition that displays how we are as Filipinos. A part of our cultural heritage that binds us together as we have that Bayanihan spirit in order to have a successful celebration – Fiesta!
Tara, ka-Pamana! Halina’t makisaya sa Pistang Pamana!
Today, let us learn about Binatbatan Festival, a celebration of the culture and old industries of Vigan, especially the Abel Weaving Industry.
Binatbatan Festival of Arts is a celebration of the culture and old industries of Vigan – especially the Abel Weaving Industry. Abel Weaving has been a part of Vigan’s culture even before the colonization of the Spaniards.
Binatbatan Festival came from the word “batbat” – the process of beating the cotton with the use of bamboo sticks to separate the seeds from the fiber that came from a tree called “kapas sanglay.” In Ilocano, “kapas” means coton.
Anatomy of a Binatbatan Dancer
Costume
Their costumes are made from Abel Iloko Fabric, a product of Abel weaving.
Batbat
Dancers wave their sticks to imitate the method of separating cotton from the seed of the kapas sanglay tree done by Abel weavers.
Basket
Dancers carry a basket on their back, just like Abel weavers, where they place the cotton pods.
During the celebration, old historical structures along Crisologo street are all decorated with Abel Iloco Fabric.
Sources:
https://www.ivanhenares.com/2009/05/viva-vigan-binatbatan-festival-tres-de.html
https://www.edmaration.com/2012/05/viva-vigan-festival-binatbatan-street.html
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