Cotabato gears up for T’nalak festival

SOUTH COTABATO — After six festivals since 1999, this year’s 7th T’nalak Festival in South Cotabato, will top them all with new features, festival organizers say.

The theme for this year’s festival remains as before: "Transcending Challenges, Optimizing Progress." South Cotabato, home to more than 650,000 people, is now laying the red carpet for its many visitors.

Organized by the office of Governor Daisy Fuentes under Dany Supe’s overall supervision, the festival is named after South Cotabato’s most prestigious cultural emblem, the T’nalak or intricately handwoven cloth made from natural abaca fibers.

The festival, which will run from July 13 to 18, coincides with the 40th Foundation Anniversary of the province of South Cotabato.

The festival will be preceded by two pre-festival activities, namely, the launching of a Techno Fair on July 1 and an Agri-Trade Fair on July 12.

On July 13, the festival will open with a bang with the Dayana Civic Parade highlighted by a float and cheer dance competition.

A Philippine Board Member’s League Dinner, Beerfest, a concert by Sarah Geronimo and Mark Bautista, and a Beerfest-Battle of the Bands will take place in different parts of the city. The Beerfest-Battle of the Bands will be held daily until July 18.

On July 15 will be the Pinayasadyahan Motocross and Flat Track Competition, and Dance Sports. July 16 will see the BIMP-EAGA Motocross and Flat Track Competition, the Mutya Ng South Cotabato competition.

On July 17 will be the BIMP-EAGA National Modern Dance Competition.

Finally on July 18, the festival will be capped by Dayana-Chanting at dawn; a 21-kilometer marathon; a T’nalak Parade or Madal Bel’an which is a new feature of the festival; a Kasadyahan Sa Kapatagan Anniversary Program; a Balikbayan Night which is another new feature; Disco sa Kalye and Lights and Sound Showdown with fireworks display.

The expected guests at T’nalak 2006 include Tourism Secretary Ace Durano, and Senator Manuel Villar.

T’nalak cloth is renowned for its vivid colors and native ingenuity, the indigenous handwoven craft that put the municipality of Lake Sebu, home of the T’boli people, on the world map. It takes six months to finish a five meter-long, 24inch wide cloth -- and the changing values of a younger T’boli generation threatens the ethnic art of T’nalak weaving.

However, thanks to the efforts of a non-governmental organization and the backing of local government, a T’nalak weaving revival has been achieved.

Today, there is now a systematic transfer of T’nalak weaving skills from parents or community experts to the young generation.

In 1998, former president Fidel Ramos declared Bey Lang Dulay of Lake Sebu as a living treasure in T’inalak weaving. She has been the recipient of the Gawad sa Manlilikha ng Bayan Award from the National Commission for Culture and the Arts.

In July 2005, fashion designer Jared Servano, a native of Lake Sebu, designed a stunning gown for the Search for Mutya ng Cotabato 2005 runner-up candidate. At this event he was also named "Best in Design" and brought T’nalak back to the limelight.

Servano apprenticed for six years in Manila with designer Leonardo Dadivas before striking out on his own. Manila fashion icons Inno Sotto and Joe Salazar are his two other design gurus.

In September 2005, the exotic cloth became a novelty fixture in the United States.

Through the efforts of the Philippine Trade Commissioner for the US Western Region, the handwoven fabrics and jewelry products were exhibited at the Philippine Center in San Francisco.

A group from Lake Sebu also arrived to showcase their weaving skills at "AsiaLive: Philippine Textile Demonstration of the Asian Art Museum."

The exhibit and demonstration in San Francisco attracted the attention of US fashion designers and manufacturers.

The fascination from the US and the rest of the world stems from the realization that T’nalak, made from the whitest abaca fibers and dyed rich red and blackest brown, is passed from T’boli mother to daughter, the patterns from memory to loom. It is truly a delight for local and international lovers of art.

However, despite the revival of T’nalak weaving in Koronadal City, its advocates see a need for more funding from private donors at home and abroad.

[ Lake Sebu Wiki ]