Pasaka Festival 2007 showcases Tanauan’s culture and heritage

The Pasaka Festival 2007 which runs August 1 to 15, is seen as another opportunity to showcase the rich cultural heritage of Tanauan, Leyte, where Tinikling, the national dance of the Philippines, is said to have originated.Tanauan Mayor Roque Tiu said that it is during the nightly activities which started yesterday when the various sectors of the municipality are able to show their unity in paying homage and thanksgiving to the town’s Patroness, Our Lady of the Assumption.

What a better way of saying Thank You for all the blessings that the town and its people has received the whole year round and all through these years, than contributing one’s best talent, Mayor Tiu stressed.

Showcasing the best talents and the culture and tradition of the municipality, will also ensure that the younger generations are given the chance to know the culture and tradition of their forefathers. It is only by knowing, that the younger generation will learn to love and to be proud of their roots and their cultural heritage, Mayor Tiu added.

Nightly cultural presentations from August 1 to 14 will feature the talents in the various schools, the local government unit and the non-government organizations in Tanauan.

In the afternoon of August 14, the Pasaka Festival, a colorful presentation of dance drama and street-dancing which depicts a community paying homage to the Blessed Virgin as she is assumed into heaven, will be staged for the 15th year.

The Pasaka Festival competition is grouped into three categories, the senior category participated in by high school students, the junior category composed of elementary pupils and the Merry Makers.

August 15 which has been proclaimed as Tanauan Day and at the same time the feast of the town’s patroness, is focused on the religious rites, thus, the cultural presentations are scheduled only up to August 14, Mayor Tiu informed. (PIA 8)