Abel fest in La Paz, Abra features culture, tradition

 LA PAZ, Abra --This municipality is known for its “abel”, a traditionally hand-woven textiles crafted for  durability. 

It is often called home to traditional loom weaving industry in the province.

For four years now, the town celebrates the Abel Festival to showcase the culture of abel industry and its products which have been kept alive by the Lapazeños across generations.

The Abel festival features street dancing demonstrations. Various colorful abel cloth designs are worn by participants from the different participating barangays during their cultural dance performances around the town.

La Paz Mayor Menchie Bernos she said that the Abel festival has been celebrated since she was elected as the local chief executive of the municipality.

“It is the One Town, One Product of La Paz and we are eager to promote this not just around the province but also to the whole country,” she said.

“It has become the lifestyle of this municipality. Mostly women are involved in this practice and they have their own weaving facilities in their houses so they normally do abel weaving during their free time,” Bernos added.

Their indigenous textiles are sold mostly through trade fairs as far as the National Capital Region and Visayas.

The mayor also disclosed that local abel products have also  reached overseas like fashion shows in New York  with  some  exhibitors and known designers  coming  personally to purchase Abel fabrics for their designs.

The mayor said abel weavers (agab-abel) of the municipality are encouraging younger generations to practice and master the art of the Abel loom weaving to keep the tradition and culture alive. 

In Barangay Bulbulala, known to be the source of  abel products such as clothes, blankets, pillowcases, polo shirts, scarfs, table runners and placemats, children as  young as eight years old are practicing and joining the tradition.

Bernos said the local government is in full support to the loom weaving communities of La Paz by sponsoring trainings for them and pushing them to join trade fairs in and outside the Cordillera region. 

As the  awareness and demand for  abel products is getting high, Lapazeños continue to keep the tradition of this old-age industry of panagabel alive. (JDP/CAGT-PIA CAR, Abra)