LAGAYAN, Abra (PIA) – Tradition, livelihood, and community cooperation were showcased during the recent celebration of the Laga Festival from March 15-17, 2024 in the municipality of Lagayan
 
The festival which was inspired by the the Lagayano tradition of “laga” or basket weaving, reflects the local industry and cultural heritage of the people of Lagayan.

Mayor Edmarc Crisologo emphasized that the festival is an avenue to highlight the culture, preserve the tradition, and highlight the beauty of Lagayan. He also thanked the community for their participation and support to the town’s annual festival and other activities towards development.

 
“Iti intayo pinag-fiesta, dawatek ti intayo panagragragsak ken panagrambak iti panag-enrich tayo iti kultura tayo, panagpasindayag tayo no siasino tayo nga taga-Lagayan iti entero nga probinsya tayo ken entero nga pagilian,” he said.

The mayor also shared that this year’s theme “Threads of time: Weaving the past, present, and future” mirrors the town’s motto towards progress.

 “Intayon Lagayan ti pangsasao tayo gapuenta onwards people of Lagayan. Ado ti backlogs tayo nga taga-Lagayan ngem gapu ti panagmaymaysa tayo, adu ti nagapuanan tayo,” he said.

Locals and visitors participated and enjoyed the highlights of the festivities that include the grand parade, agro-tourism booths, street dancing and ground demonstration, and the fireworks display.

Other activities that added color to the Laga festival are the fun run, zumba activity, civil mass wedding, multi-sectorial night dance clash, the search for Miss Lagayan, Diana around the town, the barangay night, and comedy shows.

“Laga” is a woven basket made from bamboo which people in this fishing town uses as shrimp and fish trap. Fishing serves as a primary source of income, livelihood, and employment for Lagayanos.

The local government shared in a Facebook post that Lagayan was coined from the word “laga.”

A folk story mentioned that a visitor once asked a group of basket weavers about the name of the place. Since nobody answered, the visitor called it “laga” which was later refined to Lagayan which means container.
 
Another explanation is that the term Lagayan was coined since it is where important bodies of water – the Tineg and Palusuguan rivers, meet. (JPM-PIA Abra with Rachelle Joy Alvis, PIA Intern)