Quick updates: Kaamulan Festival 2009 in Bukidnon

So today, Sunday, February 22, 2009, is the fifth day since the “soft opening” of the Kaamulan Festival 2009 celebration here in the Province of Bukidnon, Mindanao. I’m here because my team and I (meaning my very helpful brothers and I) are in-charge of some Kaamulan 2009 events. We regularly have a lot of responsibilities every Kaamulan time and it’s something that we just love to do. There’s a different kind of rush whenever you’re part of something grand and looked forward to by many. Plus of course it’s an honor to be a part of such a huge festival (not to mention the widely recognized only remaining authentic ethnic festival in the Philippines!)

There are now hundreds of booths at the Capitol Grounds here in Malaybalay City, Bukidnon. All of these booths, by the way, are only made especially during Kaamulan time (second week of February until March 10 of every year) and are made out of indigenous materials. No booths made of aluminum here!

Ever since the “soft opening” last Wednesday, things have been getting busier by the minute – you can tell by the amount of text messages that I receive everyday. Updates from the Bukidnon tourism office, from the local police, from the TransCo coordinator (we need to know if there’ll be scheduled brownouts or if there’s enough power supply), from media practitioners, from fellow event coordinators and from members of bands participating in the much talked about Kaamulan Jam 2009 Lock and Load Battle of the Bands (top plum is P25,000.00 so it’s no surprise that a total of forty six bands -46 (!) – joined) Yup, that’s a LOT of text messages and calls every single day. Some may get peeved but for an event organizer like me, it’s just another day in the office, kumbaga.

The nightly performances at the Capitol have already begun, by the way. So far, the Malaybalay City band, Peacemaker band, Malaybalay Water District band and my favorite so far, the Azura Band, have already performed. Tonight, it’ll be the 29IB band’s turn to regale the crowd.

The Office of Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri has also confirmed that popular band “Bamboo,” which is best known for the hit singles “Noypi,” “Hallelujah” and “Mr. Clay,” will perform on March 7, 2009. Sen. Migs is the main sponsor of the Bamboo gig. I’m pretty sure thousands of people will again flock at the Capitol Grounds for this event. Last year, I assisted during another one of Senator Miguel’s sponsored shows which featured Kim Chiu, Gerald Anderson, Callalily, John Prats and the Tuko and Eric tandem from Wowowee. I think there were roughly 15,000 people at the Capitol Grounds that night. I will share photos and kuwentos about that experience in future blog entries here in Mindanaoan and in Bukidnon Online.

San Miguel Beer, on the other hand, one of this year’s major Kaamulan sponsors, will sponsor a show to be topbilled by Cebu City’s very own “Urbandub.” The band best known for songs like “Soul Searching” and “A New Tattoo” will perform at the Capitol Stage on March 9, 2009. Last year, San Miguel brought Kamikazee and I also assisted before and during the show. That was really fun! I will also share photos and kuwentos about that in future blog entries. As expected, the Capitol Grounds area was so packed with people and I’m sure the same thing will happen again this year during Urbandub’s performance.

So there…just a few updates about the ongoing Kaamulan Festival 2009 celebration. I will post more updates in the next few days. Also, please don’t hesitate to check Bukidnon Online for news, photos and updates since I’ll be writing there often, too.

Ciao for now 🙂

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