THE village of Iponan's 10-day Kalumpangan Festival 2017 officially opened on Wednesday, February 1, at the Iponan Open Grounds.
Kalumpangan Festival is the mother of all festivals in Iponan village while other unique special events including the Humba and Suman Festivals, are held in separate occasions.
This year, the village council decided to have a retro night group dance competition of the 70's as its opening salvo. Participants with colorful outfits and enthusiastic moves filled the stage of the star-studded night.
Around 16 groups from different sectors and village zones participated in the retro dance competition inspired by the genres of the ABBA, Beegees and Rick James.
Urban Poor topped the competition with 93 percent from the three judges led by Abs Cbn's Mommy Jay.
Urban Poor banked on their energetic performance and superb interpretation of the genre music through their choreography.
Bulao Elementary School landed second for their portrayal of the 70's music during the regime of the then and late President Ferdinand E. Marcos.
Their performance included adlibs from Tagalog movies including the one where Nora Aunor became infamous of her line: Walang himala.
Completing the third spot was Zone 5.
The council also presented 16 young candidates of this year's Miss Iponan.
The queen festival of the village was conceptualized through Iponan's endangered and rare tree "Kalumpangan", a tree commonly used for clothes and oil.
"We named the festival to that tree because it's rare and we tend to preserve it through naming in it in this festival," said village official Anthony "Gaga" Brellita.
The festival is originally honoring the feast of San Guillermo, the patron saint of the village.
A round of activities are set until February 10.