A Great Day Out for Kanaway Festival

With theme, “KANAWAY Festival Sakdagon Para Pag-uswag sa Quinto Maagum,” the celebration looks to maintain its reputation as being one of the gems in the crown of provinces’ ever-growing repertoire of natural, historical and cultural attractions.

Kanaway is a Hiligaynon term for the northwest trade wind. It is a celebration of northern bounty presented by the various festivals in the district. Each year, towns take charge in the celebration where visitors can enjoy food and drinks, pageantry and parties. This year, the municipality of Barotac Viejo play host to this annual event with its highlight of festival presentation and competition on 1st March (Sunday) at the Barotac Viejo Municipal Covered Gym at 1 in the afternoon. The coronation of Ulitawo kag Lin-ay sang Kanaway Festival 2015 will be at the same venue at 7 in the evening.

We welcome warm temperatures and the gratifying wave of heat, as summer is finally creeping its way in. The season is firing up everyone’ spirits as many get busy drawing up their travel plans for the next few months.

With rapidly growing popularity in the tourism industry of the region, the northern area comprised of 11 municipalities namely, Barotac Viejo, Ajuy, San Rafael, Concepcion, Lemery, Sara, San Dionisio, Batad, Estancia, Balasan and Carle is catching the attention of many.

Known as the Resort Destination of the province, the Fifth Congressional District in the northern area is characterized with an excellent ambiance of white sand island beaches, some remote and others relatively easily reached. If you intend on having a piece of island all to yourself with natural beauty, the northern portion offers many worth seeking out. Try to make it there soon before it gets dominated by tourists.

There is no better way to enjoy the start of summer months than by hitting a festival. The people of northern Iloilo celebrate its own unique festival, Kanaway, a colorful festival of cultures.

Having come from modest beginnings in 2010, this family-friendly event, Kanaway was launched by the Northern Iloilo Center for Culture and Arts or NICCA, an organization managed by the Northern Iloilo Polytechnic State College (NIPSC) System.

The Northern Iloilo Polytechnic State College is a public college that provides higher vocational, professional, and technical instruction and training in the fields of industry, agriculture, fishery, engineering and sciences, and short-term vocational technical continuing courses. Its main campus is located in Estancia with branches in Barotac Viejo, Batad, Sara, Lemery, Ajuy and Concepcion, Iloilo.

This year, Kanaway also provide a precious opportunity for the people of northern Iloilo to break free from their hectic routines of rebuilding their daily life devastated by the last destructive typhoon Yolanda where lives were lost, infrastructures were destroyed. The typhoon is now a thing of the past for the affected communities who have slowly recovered from the disaster.

There are a lot of festivals now throughout Iloilo, but this is a festival with a purpose and that the people of the northern Iloilo need to get the word out that they are still here and recovering. The local officials are more committed to the core values contained in their shared heritage that makes their festival coming again this year, the only on-going one of its kind district celebration in Iloilo.

Come along to the event that has something for everybody. It is a great day out. To get to the northern towns of the province, one can take the bus at the Northern Central Iloilo Transport Terminal Inc. in Barangay Tagbak, Jaro, Iloilo City.