Etag Festival 2017 held with contests, concerts

by Gina Dizon

SAGADA, MOUNTAIN PROVINCE - Contests and concerts to have the community people be happy and festive on the celebration of its Etag Festival shall be observed on February 2-5, 2017  with theme” A Celebration of an Empowered Community through Faith and Culture”.  

Contests to be participated by elementary and secondary school students are video making, poster making  emergency race on disaster prevention and awareness on February 2 with prizes handled by Treasure Link Cooperative Society.

Quiz show, quiz bee contests also be participated in by elementary and high school students on February 2 with prizes on winning entries  sponsored by Rural Bank of Sagada.

An essay writing contest for secondary school students shall be conducted on  February 3 and the winners  given prizes sponsored by some individual-writers who trace their roots from Sagada.     

Music contest is open to ages 5 and above with categories solo, duet/trio, instrumental and  band. Battle of the Bands shall be  seen on February 3 after the Kantan di Ungung-a  at 3 pm on the same day with  winners’ prizes from the Local Government Unit of Sagada.

Though Sagada Got Talent on a singing competition and other talents shall also be participated in by  elementary and secondary students on February 4 with winners given prizes sponsored by Smart Telecommunications.  

Cultural presentations and  street dancing  scheduled on February 3 shall also grab prizes along with winners of ground demonstrations and ballgames rewarded with prizes  provided by the LGU.

                  Search for Ms Sagada shall be shown by the night of February 5 and winners given prizes from sponsor Smart Telecom. 

A concert by Shalom Beharim composed of clergy from the Episcopal Diocese of Northern Philippines  shall be shown on  February 2 at 7 pm at the Church of St Mary the Virgin.

              Jam Night sees some singing talents from Sagada on the nights of February 3 and 4 along with musicians from other places who are currently in Sagada and would like to join the festivity.  

                Simultaneously on the night of February 3, a Cultural Fair happens at Bangaan in northern Sagada.

Distinctly of community bonding on the occasion of the town fiesta lets barangay constituents  get together and enjoy lunch on any day during the four day festival. While this is so, boodle fight of  the native delicacy ‘etag’ and pinikpikan shall be served to visitors.

Now on its 6th celebration the Etag Festival is celebrated  with the feast of the Purification of  the Virgin Mary and presentation of Jesus Christ in the temple by the Church of St Mary the Virgin on February 2 .

The yearly event which falls on the first week of February is the  traditional Sagada Fiesta now called  Etag Festival by virtue of a resolution passed  by the Sangguniang  Bayan in 2011.

Etag is a native delicacy of smoked meat used for rituals and now a commercialized food.  

Traditional events are the civic parade, cultural presentations  by barangay and school delegates and ball games participated by schools  and invited guest players.