Culture meets
contemporary in City's kick-off program
By LAIMINH S. MABULAY
August 2, 2012
CATBALOGAN CITY – Out of
nowhere, 130 youths came running to the different parts of the
newly-renovated City Plaza, dancing to the beat of today’s latest
hits, to signal the start of the Manaragat Festival Month-long Fiesta
Celebration, yesterday, August 1, 2012 at around 6 pm.
The combined performances of
students from Samar National School’s Special Program for the Arts
(SPA), Samar College’s Rayhak Dance Troupe and the nine groups that
will compete in STEP High: the Search for Catbalogan City’s Next Dance
Crew, meant to herald the city’s most important cultural event were
obviously inspired by the flash mob.
Defined in Wikipedia as “a
group of people who assemble suddenly in a place, perform an unusual
and seemingly pointless act for a brief time, then disperse, often for
the purposes of entertainment, satire, and artistic expression”; the
flash-mob-inspired dance number was performed at the start of the
kick-off program, which was meant to set the tone for the month-long
fiesta celebration.
Mayor Coefredo “Tekwa” Uy
was present along with Vice Mayor Art Gabon and several City and
Barangay Officials to witness the launching. Councilor Stephany Uy-Tan
gave the message in behalf of Mayor Tekwa who was equally overwhelmed
by the large turn-out of crowds that night.
The day of kick-off
activities started in the morning with a solemn Thanksgiving Mass
officiated by Fr. Joe Calderon.
A motorcade participated in
by city employees served as a prelude to the brief but eventful
launching program. Scheduled cultural presentations from schools
namely St. Mary’s Child Development Center (SMCDC), Catbalogan
Community School (CCS), and Catbalogan I District and SPED Center
followed right after.
The said kick-off program
also served to showcase the newly renovated City Plaza, which now
boasts of a 15-square meter LED giant electronic billboard placed on
top of the plaza stage. Being the first of its kind in the entire
region, the said electronic billboard was purchased by the City
Government to intensify its income generation and information
dissemination mechanism. But for now, it served as a window into the
city’s sights and colors as well as what people should expect this
August as it flashed teasers about future activities in line with the
fiesta, giving a vivid image of the month long festival as a
spontaneous, dynamic and exciting cultural celebration.
