I HAVE a confession to make. I have yet to attend a fiesta in either the towns of Poro or Tudela, the birth places of my parents, in the Camotes group of islands. Tudela, the birth place of my father, celebrates its fiesta on Dec. 8, its patron being the Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception. She is also our patron for the youth in Sitio Kawayan in Barangay Sambag 2.
Poro, the birth place of my mother, has the Sto. Niño de Cebu as patron and the town celebrates its fiesta every third Friday of January. The Sto. Niño is also the patron for the old folks in Sitio Kawayan in Barangay Sambag 2.
When I was younger, I used to spend my summer vacations in Poro and Tudela towns. It is during summer when many barangays in Tudela would celebrate their fiestas. The people there take their fiestas seriously. I have fond memories of fiestas in Barangay General in Tudela town. I preferred staying in the house of my uncle Mario in the mountain of Kanmanok and playing basketball in the cemented court of Barangay General where I befriended many young people of my age.
I reckon the Tudela town fiesta is much more festive than those of mere village fiestas. Highlights of the fiesta celebration in the villages are the nightly benefit dances (“bayle”) after the nightly novenas leading to the selection of the fiesta queen or princess. Villages especially in the mountains didn’t have electricity so those activities were lit using the trusted petromax.
I prefer the “bayle” over the one that replaced this, the disco. I remember us going to the “bayle” inebriated after drinking sprees with the “barkada.” The most memorable “bayle” for me was the one in Barangay Alta Vista in Poro not for the dances itself but because of what we did before that.
The barangay is obviously located in the mountains (note: the mountains in Camotes islands are not as high as those in the Cebu mainland) considering the name (“alta” is Spanish for “high” and “vista” is Spanish for “view”). Before the “bayle,” the “barkada” had a drinking spree in the Tudela market located near the Tudela wharf. Then when night fell we went on a trek for several kilometers to Alta Vista using dried coconut leaves as torches to light our way.
For those who have not been to a benefit dance in the countryside, the scene is like this: the place is lighted by petromax lamps with one usually hung in the middle. The women would be sitting on the wooden benches waiting to be picked up by the men standing with the crowd surrounding the “baylehan.” The dancing is done in the vacant space near the benches. While you are dancing, the collectors would approach you for the payment. You can buy ribbons for “unli” dances.
When you are young and loveless, the “bayle” attracts you, especially in a place where young women are tied to household chores. The “bayle” gives you the chance to talk with your “crush” if you are daring enough or to at least hold her when you dance with “sweet music” filling the air. My experience is that even just looking at your “crush” sitting with the other young women on the wooden bench already gives you a kind of high. In those instances, the “bayle” becomes even more memorable.
To Tudela folk, a happy fiesta to you all.