Higalaay Festival

It has been quite an activity and fun-filled four weeks here in Cagayan de Oro (CDO) City for Cagayanons and visitors alike. The patron saint of the city is St. Augustine of Hippo, wherein a feast day in his honor is celebrated yearly in this City of Golden Friendship.

“The other Higalaay festivities include trade fairs, the Mindanao Fashion Summit, a circus, the grand parade and a celebration of food. A fiesta isn’t a fiesta, after all, without the food shared.

The festival is dubbed Higalaay which is derived from the Bisaya-Cebuano word higala meaning friend. Higalaay is, thus, a feast of friendship.

This year’s fiesta must have been my seventh since I won the title of Miss Cagayan de Oro back in 1986. The other times I attended this festival was when I turned over my crown to the next Miss CDO in 1987, when I returned some years later as a judge in the same pageant and other times as a reveler in the celebrations.

It was with much pleasant reminiscing that I served as the chairperson of the panel of judges in this year’s Miss CDO’s long gown competition. The creations of the members of the Oro Fashion Designers Guild were much to be proud of.

I was bowled over by how truly world-class the production was both for the pre-pageant long gown competition and the Miss CDO coronation night. I was to learn that one of the key people on the team was a contemporary of mine while I was studying at the all-girls Lourdes College High School and at the then all-boys Xavier University (Ateneo de Cagayan) High School. He proudly shared with me that the production team comprised of our very own homegrown Cagayanon talents. I truly enjoyed catching up and bumping into higalas from my younger years in this city.

Unlike previous fiesta visits, I had the luxury of time this year and was able to experience and enjoy more of the events leading up to fiesta day on the 28th of August. The other Higalaay festivities include trade fairs, the Mindanao Fashion Summit, a circus, the grand parade and a celebration of food. A fiesta isn’t a fiesta, after all, without the food shared.

The Kumbira events organized by the Cagayan de Oro Hotel and Restaurant Association or COHARA for 23 years now, were impressive. A sure standout in the month-long Higalaay celebration!

Kumbira is an annual culinary three-day show with several well-attended competitions. Talented amateurs, budding chefs, eager students, professionals and culinary experts enthusiastically gathered to speak, join, judge, compete or simply savor the many events Kumbira 2019 had on offer. It did not disappoint!

Together with our well-respected local chefs Ann Lim Yu, Jocelyn Chua, Cathy Dano, Mich Uapal and Awi Chavez, much admired Chefs Sandy Daza, Penk Ching, Myrna Segismundo, Robby Goco, Suzette Montinola, Norbert Gandler, Thierry Le Baut, Datu Shariff Pendatun and Tatung Sarthou lll are but some of the culinary personalities who came to this year’s Kumbira.

Miss Universe 2015 Pia Wurtzbach had a homecoming of sorts as she graced some of the events and taped spiels for her Metro Channel show, Pia’s Postcards. The episode is set to showcase the city’s festival, people and food!

We reminisced on how we both represented Cagayan de Oro City in the Binibining Pilipinas pageant, even as we won decades apart. We were amused that she was born the year I won Binibining Pilipinas International and Miss Friendship International in Kanazawa, Japan. We laughed as if we were old higalas.

For me, it was indeed a Higalaay Festival to remember. Well done, my fellow Cagayanons and daghang salamat (many thanks!) to all of you who celebrated with us. Until next year, higalas!