Zambales end 2012 with three-day festival

IBA, Zambales - Zambaleños marked the end of 2012 with a three-day festival that featured sports competition, concerts, adventure trek, a boodle fight for some 15,000 residents and a grand firework display to top it all.

Governor Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. said the Kalighawan Festival, which was launched under his administration in 2010, has become an annual tradition to gather Zambaleños together in the spirit of thanksgiving for successes in the past year and to welcome better opportunities in the coming year.

“This is a time to celebrate what we have accomplished together, and to enjoy ourselves,” the governor said at the close of the festival on December 30, which also marked his birthday.

PAMPANGA. Teams from the different barangays in the province row their might during the “Sipit-sipit” Bancathon at Bancal River, Botolan. (Anthony Bayarong)

“We have been at this for the past three years, but now we have a bigger program, with more towns involved,” he added.

From the original “Kalighawan ha Mayanan” or Merrymaking in the North when the festival was held at the governor’s hometown of Candelaria, this year’s three-day festival came to be known as “Kalighawan Iti Zambales” or Merrymaking in Zambales to denote the province-wide coverage.

Kalighawan opened on December 28 at the Zambales Sports Complex with a fun run for runners of all ages, senior citizens availed of free medical and dental services, free ECG checks, free massage and wellness consultation, and raffle prizes.

The second day of the festival kicked-off with a cycling competition that started in the southernmost town of Subic and traversed the whole length of the Zambales provincial highway, finishing a few hours later in the northernmost town of Sta. Cruz.

Aside from this, festival organizers also scheduled a hiking trip from Palauig town to Mt. Tapulao, the highest peak in the Zambales; a “sipit-sipit” bancathon in Botolan town; and a 4X4 trail expedition from San Felipe town to Mt. Pinatubo.

An open water swim competition was also held at Uacon, Candelaria, as well as an “Scubasurero” event that was simultaneously conducted in San Antonio town.

The culminating events for the Kalighawan Festival was a “boodle fight” that fed some 15,000 Zambaleños and guests who trooped to the Zambales Sports Complex oval on the night of December 30 to celebrate the birthday of Gov. Ebdane.

This was the biggest feast ever held in the history of Zambales. It was followed by a fireworks display that signaled the end of the three-day Kalighawan Festival.