CITY OF TABUK,Kalinga(PIA) -- The Kalinga provincial government  is all set for the 29th Kalinga Founding Anniversary and 5th Bodong Festival scheduled on Feb. 5-20, 2024.

The festival centers on celebrating the founding of Kalinga as an independent province when it was separated from Apayao on Feb. 14, 1995, and honoring Kalinga’s centuries-old unique peacekeeping system, the bodong.

With the theme, “Empowered Communities and Enriched Heritage: LUMIN-AWA KALINGA!”, the event will bring together all the sub-tribes of Kalinga for  two week-long revelry that will showcase their rich and diverse cultural heritage ,and celebrate the province’s achievements for the last 29 years.  

The festival will kick off on Feb. 5 with a formal program at the Capitol Park where the candidates of the Mr. and Ms. Kalinga pageant will be presented to the public. It will be followed by the opening of the Kalinga Treasures Fair along the national road.

Highlights of the festivity include the Bodong Congress, which will arguably be the largest gathering of bodong holders  with around 1,700 expected participants, and  stakeholders to talk about amendments to the ‘pagta’ or the law of the bodong, and the strengthening of its institutions.

Other lined-up events are the cultural parade, the ‘Bodong Portrayal’, the ‘Diddiga di Tupayya’, the Bodong street dance competition, the drum and lyre competition, the Anniversary Day program, the Mr. and Ms. Kalinga pageant coronation night, the Laga Fashion Show, concerts, job fairs, and many more.

Various tourism-driven events such as the second edition of the Lumin-awa Trek, the Bodong Bikefest, and the Kalinga Lumin-awa Offroad  are also expected to draw visitors from other places.

Meanwhile, various pre-festival events are in full swing including the Bodong Fun Fair at the CARAA grounds, the Bodong Bazaar, and the Bodong Food Hub at the Capitol grounds. (JDP/IOS-PIA CAR, Kalinga)