13 reasons why visit
the 2013 Musikahan Festival
continued from page 3
6. POINT AND SHOOT. What better way to
11. ART SPACE.
7.
12.
capture the beat and vibrancy of the Musikahan celebration than framing it in picture perfect snapshots? If you are good enough, with uhhhmmm luck, your picture might be exhibited at the entrance lobby of the New City Hall during the whole run of the Musikahan. This is possible if you join the 2nd Musikahan Photo contest organized by the City Information Office (CIO). With the photo marathon in mind, the contest will select best photos of the day from the different events of the festival with time deadline but without any software enhancements.
OUTREACH
REACHES
OUT.
Musikahan has no single specific venue. The festival will be spread throughout the City: in the barangays and in the malls for the Barangay singing sensations; in the hospitals, City jail, auspices centers for the outreach concerts; in the streets of the city and the New City Hall for the Avenida Marching Band competition; the churches for the Sacred music choir competition and the Atrium of the new City Hall for the rest of the Himig handog Choral and Rondalla competition.
8. TRAYXI. Tagum’s king of the road, the lime green
colored Tricycle will be decorated with Tagum destinations as designed by local artists. These tricycles can be commissioned in an affordable fare for a tour around the venues of the Musikahan with drivers as trained tour guides for the festival.
9. VOLUN-TOURISM.
For travel bloggers or just plain travelers out there, Musikahan is the one for you. Aside from the revelry of the week-long celebration of the festival, you can also contribute to the rehabilitation of the storm ravaged province of ComVal. Added premium to your trip is the chance to visit the many parks of Tagum, the towering thousand palm trees in different varieties, the mangrove river cruise, among others and the warm hospitality of the Tagumeño people.
10. FESTIVAL + TOUR
If you happen to be a tourism officer or a tour operator, you can engage in a 3 day ‘Festival + tour project’ in discovering new destinations in Mindanao and for a peer-exchange and skills sharing of the tourism industry here and abroad.
GAZETTE
THE OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF THE 12TH MUSIKAHAN SA TAGUM FESTIVAL
www.musikahansatagum.com
FEBRUARY 19, 2012
Art lovers and artists alike find a space in the heart of the Musikahan celebration. Despite the City’s lack of galleries and art museums, artworks and thematic giant art murals are exhibited in the Festival site, providing venue for local artists to showcase their masterpieces that can be purchased by patrons with proceeds still going to the rehabilitation of ComVal Province.
REFRESHING
DESIGNS.
Graphic designers are tapped to design the Musikahan Festival promotional ads that are now displayed at the bus stops of the City and major thoroughfares. These are clever move to shy away from traditional lay-outs that are running from the past years of the festival and go for creative graphic designs that are not just eye candies but also effective attention catchers that can lure even the choosiest in the crowd. I just wish that the designs can also be made available for t-shirts prints.
13. TRADE FAIR.
Lastly, the festival cannot afford to let visitors to stroll around the Musikahan venue on empty stomachs. Right beside the New City Hall building are lined stalls with the wide variety of delectable affordable foods and refreshments to choose from. Wifi cafes are also conveniently set-up inside the venue. Many souvenirs are also on display that are great commemorative items for you on your visit to Tagum City’s Musikahan Festival. If the list above is not inviting enough, then I don’t know what will. So dust off that travel shoes, hit the road and visit Tagum City now and live to experience Musikahan like you never seen it before! EDITOR’S NOTE: Blogger Leo Timogan of tagumexposure.blogspot. com is also the chief photographer of the Tagum City Information Office. His online niche includes www.dbigsqueeze.blogspot.com and www.salangdiwa.blogspot.com
THE MUSIC CITY GAZETTE is edited and produced by the TAGUM CITY INFORMATION OFFICE
Media Center, New City Hall, Tagum City 4
THE MUSIC CITY
tagumcityinformationoffice2011@gmail.com
Musikahan sa Tagum opens today by Louie Bryan M. Lapat
CITY OF TAGUM, DAVAO DEL NORTE—All is set for the grand kick-off today of the 12th installment of the Musikahan sa Tagum Festival, transforming this city which prides itself as the “Music Capital of the South” to a majestic musical venue with the participation of thousands of musical revelers from the different parts of the country and from the Asia Pacific. Considered to be Davao Region’s opening festival salvo, the said festival runs from February 19-24, 2013 and will feature the region’s best solo players and musical ensembles such as marching brass bands, choral groups, rondalla artists, drum-and-bugle-lyre corps players, young musicians specializing wind, percussion and string instruments, among others. Mayor Rey T. Uy will lead Tagumeños in the
opening ceremony and is expected to be joined by Governors Arturo T. Uy of Compostela Valley and Rodolfo P. del Rosario who will join forces in the launching of a tourism portal anchored on the vision of promoting tourism sites and activities in their respective areas. The City Government of Tagum under the leadership of Mayor Uy and the City of Tagum Tourism Council with Mrs. Alma L. Uy sitting MUSIKAHAN/2
13 reasons why visstitival
...FROM PAGE 1
as its president assured that this year’s Musikahan will be grander and will banner the cause of helping communities in Compostela Valley devastated by Typhoon Pablo last December 4, 2012. Aligned with the Musikahan’s Cultural Action Project, benefit concerts will be staged during the whole duration in the event in Tagum, including a performance by the Sunrise String Orchestra from Bangkok, Thailand happening on February 24, 2013 at the SMX Convention Center in SM Lanang Premier, Davao City at exactly 4:00 PM. The 12th year of the Musikahan Festival will also make history as the Himig Handog 1st Asia Pacific Choral Competition will take place during the five-day event. Other events that will headline the festival are the Rondal-Awit, the Avenida Musika Brass Band Competition, Kasikas sa Dalan Drum, Bugle and Lyre Competition, the Barangay Musikahan Grand Finals and the Musikahan at ICT. The City Information Office will also kick-off today its 2nd Musikahan Photography Contest which generated participation from photographers based in Tagum and other parts of Davao Region.
the 2013 Musikahan Fe
re.blogspot.com Blogger LEO TIMOGAN of tagumexposu sic City of the lists the reasons why you should visit the Mu tival South for this year’s Musikahan Fes
READY TO ROCK. The New City Hall of Tagum will serve as the main venue of this year’s festivities. Aside from this iconic building, other venues include churches, malls, and even academic institutions across the city. PHOTO BY EDWIN B. LASQUITE
Tourism portal goes online SENIOR CITY COUNCILOR De Carlo “Oyo” L. Uy will lead today the launching of the Dav.Com tourism web portal in time for the opening of the 12th Musikahan sa Tagum Festival. The younger Uy, in his capacity as the chair of the committee on tourism of the Sangguniang Panlungsod, spearheaded the creation of the said website that aims to promote the destinations and tourism activities in the provinces of Davao del Norte and Compostela Valley. The said website which is developed by a group of students from the University of Southeastern Philippines also features tourism destinations in the cities of Tagum, Panabo and the Island Garden City of Samal. This project is still part of the Cultural Action Project of the Musikahan sa Tagum Festival 2013 which aims to advance VolunTourism in Davao Region. Councilor Uy will be joined in the launching by Tagum City Mayor Rey T. Uy and Governors Rodolfo P. del Rosario and Arturo T. Uy of Davao del Norte and Compostela Valley, respectively. Regional Director Art Boncato of the Department of Tourism-XI will also grace the event. Musikahan Festival’s artistic director Nestor Horfilla, who also supervised the formulation of the website, said this is a landmark initiative of the city in coming up with an online niche which will offer the best of Comval and Davao del Norte. The launching of the website is part of the Musikahan @ ICT Component of the five-day festival which celebrate the power of the information and communication technology as a means of promoting tourism. (Louie Lapat)
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The month of February, aside from being singled out as for lovers, is now fast becoming the time for Tagum City and its unique musical revelry - the Musikahan Festival. There will be the same synapse reaction you get as January synonymous to Cebu’s Sinulog and August to Davao’s Kadayawan. Tagum City’s Musikahan certainly made its mark in the annals of Philippine Fiestas as the grandest, longest-running and all-inclusive Music Festival in this part of the country staged in a week-long extravaganza celebrated for 12 years now, with each year getting bigger, better and more sensible. More than my fingers could represent, there are 13 reasons why Musikahan sa Tagum is a must visit and not-to-be-missed experience this 2013. Let me count the ways...
1. INTERNATIONAL FLAVOR.
2011’s International Rondalla Festival hosted by Musikahan that successfully made its run in high note started it all, in breaking Tagum City to the global scene. The Festival was able to invite 12 countries that included powerhouses USA, China, India, and Russia among others. It is high time that this year, Musikahan elevated the Himig Handog choral competition a notch higher, one of its original festival components, into an AsiaPacific competition where our country’s bests will be able to compete with the champions in the Asian Region.
2. HELPING COMVAL.
It is not a many moons ago when typhoon Pablo (TS Bopha) wrecked havoc neighboring province of Compostela Valley that claimed hundreds of lives and made thousands homeless, leaving spirits devastated and morals down. Overwhelming support poured in from food to shelter to medical assistance. Tagum City even accommodated many injured victims of the typhoon mobilizing its Health Department to augment support for the Regional Hospital located in the City. But this, we know, is not enough. The typhoon scarred the victims for life and that recovery would take a while. The Festival in its little ways made en routes all directed to helping ComVal in a series of benefit concerts this year like the Dalit Musikahan of the world class violinist Alfonso “Coke” Bolipata and the Casa San Miguel String Quartet and the nightly ‘Rock the Valley’ concert participated by more than 100 rock groups in the Davao Region.
3. THAI TIES. Despite geographical divide
and language barrier, Tagum City and Thailand forged understanding through music and one in mounting benefit concerts for the Typhoon survivors by the world- renowned Sunrise String Orchestra (SSO) compose of students with ages raging from 9 years old onwards. Created in 2008, the SSO was able to conduct concerts in Bangkok and many provinces in Thailand. Recently, SSO produced a record album with original compositions from award winning Thai composer Dr Narongrit Dhamabutra.
4. AHA MOMENT.
About 40 artists trained in ‘arts-for-therapy’ will conduct stress debriefing activities in typhoon affected areas in ComVal that are specially aimed to traumatized children. As for the moment, much tangible relief goods were given. Musikahan for its part, will rehabilitate the affected communities by lifting the spirits through visual and performing arts.
5. ICT CONNECTION. For techies alike
and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) enthusiasts, Musikahan finds its place in the cyberspace through Facebook links and the IT exhibit areas at Musikahan venue in the New City Hall. ICTrelated seminars and workshops will also be conducted from basic to advance classes. And for the 2nd time, the world will be listening to Musikahan as the festival will be beamed globally through on-line live stream feeds. 13 REASONS/4 3