The Joyful Cheers of The Binatbatan Festival
Every year on the first week of May, in the heritage city of Vigan, the locals celebrate the Binatbatan Festival of Arts. It is a thanksgiving for Sto. Cristo Milagroso or "Apo Lakay" of the Simbaan a Bassit for saving Vigan from an epidemic in 1756. Since then, Bigueños commemorate this heroic act on May 3 or "Tres de Mayo." The word "binatbatan" is an Ilocano word that describes the procedure of beating cotton pods with bamboo sticks called "batbat" to produce the local fabric, Abel. This meaning is brought over to the dance festival, where dancers imitate the beating of the cotton with the two sticks while wearing Abel costumes. Along with other festivities, Binatbatan has evolved into the city's most colorful and most celebrated festival. Like every other Filipino, the Bigueños take religious celebrations seriously. With most of the population being Catholic, you can commonly see packed churches for Misa Concelebrada . For one...