Located in the southeastern part of Davao del Norte Province, Tagum City, the capital of the province, is home to nearly 300,000 people and is one of the region’s economic centers.

The city owes its growth to its strategic location with two major road networks (Davao-Agusan National Highway and the Davao-Mati Road) intersecting in the city. Tagum’s flat terrain is home to numerous productive farms, plantations and commercial businesses.

Despite its lack of geographical features such as picturesque mountains and alluring white sand beaches which other localities in the province possess, Tagum City is still intent on attracting throngs and tourists and visitors to the city by means of holding events such as festivals.

“In Tagum, we don’t have natural resources; we don’t have nice beaches;  we don’t have mountains, it's really man-made that is why we rely on our people, the talent and skills of our people,” says Alma Uy, the city’ mayor’s wife and the current president of the Tagum City Tourism, Culture and Arts Council.

Uy wants Tagum City to become a tourism destination with varied festivities that showcases the skills of its various sectors and communities.

“Sa talents ng mga Tagumenyos doon kami kumuha ng strength. So why we have lots of festivals because of this? We are promoting Tagum as the city of festivals. We rely on different sectors in the city,” Uy said.

She said the city is inclined on music thus the free music education of the local government and this focus on music birthed their banner festival-- Musikahan saTagum.

Uy said their vision for Tagum City is to become the center for arts and culture in the region, thus, their motivation to hold festivals which caters to the different aspirations of the various sectors and communities in Tagum.

For this year, the city has programmed 12 festivals ranging from a music festival, film fest, culinary fiesta and one for the LGBT+ community.

Visitors to the city will have plenty of festivals to choose which caters to varied interests. Here are among the events held this year in the city:

campaign for the freedoms that enables equality and empowerment.  The event is institutionalized through the passage of City Ordinance No. 771 passed by the 7th City Council in 2016.

Among the many activities in this week-long festival include a Mardi Gras, fashion show, musical show, talent competitions.

Festival activities included the Great Durian Eating Showdown, Durian Feastival Fair, Durian Culinary Olympics, and the Durian Techno Forum.

have converged in Tagum City representing the different dance genres.  Dance performances, competitions, exhibits and a congress aims to elevate the art and make Tagum a focal point of creatives in Mindanao.

Araw ng Tagum

Held every March 7, the event celebrates the conversion of Tagum from a municipality into a component city in 1998 thru Republic Act 8472. The highlight of the commemoration is a civic parade participated by thousands of Tagumenyos.

Sports Festival

Held during summer the sports festival aims to promote fitness activities among Tagumenyos. The main venue of the sports festival is the 25-hectare Energy Park in Apokon. Among activities include wall climbing, rappelling and ziplining.

Mindanao Film Festival

Formerly held in Davao City, the longest-running regional film festival in the country was held last year in the city. Tagum will again be hosting the festival which will feature short films and full-length films of local, national and international independent filmmakers.