Tuesday, October 27, 2015

Pavia Tigkaralag Festival

the inter-barangay Halloween dance drama competition, photo by Joel Miles Molina


Pavia, Iloilo has a special charm when Halloween comes around. The town comes with lots of mystery and an excellent choice of celebration taking place every 30th of October all over Iloilo. From creepy creatures parading the street in frightening costumes to spine-chilling dance presentations Pavianhons certainly know how to thrill its visitors with the annual Tigakaralag Festival.

photo by Joel Miles Molina

The celebration opens with the parade of participants in Tigkaralag costumes from Barangay Aganan at 6:30 p.m. passing through different barangays culminating to the municipal plaza. Residents and visitors are in for a Halloween action with the frightful edition of the all-night horror inter-barangay dance-drama competition with themes based on ghost legends such as the White Lady, the headless priest and the phantom hitchhiker.

photo by Joel Miles Molina

The Halloween costume contest is a fun tradition of the Tigkaralag celebration with awards for the Most Horrible and the Most Amusing. The arch competition is decorated with a range of objects associated with Halloween that include blood, fire, gravestones, bones and skulls. Concepts have connections with death, the spirit world or protecting property from evil spirits.

Arch competition, photo by Joel Miles Molina
Tigkaralag, from the Hiligaynon word, “kalag” or”soul” with the Hiligaynon prefix “tig” or “season of” attached to it. The town had been providing Ilonggos with this Halloween fix since 1992 and was conceptualized by former 2nd District Provincial Board Member, Hon. Cecilia H. Capadosa.

Considered as important holidays in the Philippines, Tigkaralag or All Souls Day and All Saints Day are times where Filipinos would mostly go to their provinces to visit, remember and pray for their departed loved ones. Weeks before family members clean-up and repaint the graves of their loved ones. On the day itself, they flock the cemetery to visit the graves, bring flowers, light candles and prepare for a get-together meal. Many would stay overnight to recite the rosary and the Litany of the Dead and also to bond with relatives.

Pavia is a Second Class municipality belonging to the Second Congressional District of the province. It is 9.6 kilometers away from Iloilo City. It has a land area of 2,703-hectare politically subdivided into 18 barangays. To get to the town, one can take a jeepney at Jaro Plaza, Iloilo City. For more information, please contact Mrs. Susan P. Jovero - Municipal Tourism Officer at 09173006041.



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