THE Davao City government is aiming to achieve the number of tourist arrivals in 2019 for the 38th Kadayawan festival this August at 250,000.
Davao City Tourism Operations Office head Jennifer Romero told SunStar Davao in an ambush interview that the 2019 recorded tourist arrival for the entire month of August is around 250,000.
"For this year, hopefully ang atong (our) target is between 180-200[,000]," Romero said.
She said this year's target is a "full-blown" expectation considering the normalization following the lifting of the restrictions against Covid-19.
"This is an ambitious target for 2023, but we are still working," the tourism official said.
"Ang ato (Our target) is to really hit the pre-pandemic figures, and that is 2019," she added.
This will be the second Kadayawan the city will be celebrating face-to-face after it was halted in 2020 and 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Meanwhile, the city marked its first in-person celebration of the 86th Araw ng Dabaw three years since the pandemic suspended the celebration.
Changes
Romero said the target assembly time for participants will be at 2 p.m. while the performance will start an hour after. They expect that the street-dancing competition would last until 8 p.m.
The tourism official did not elaborate what would be the routes for this year's Indak-Indak, but she said the grand presentation would still be in front of Rizal Park along San Pedro Street.
The changes come after Davao City Councilor Al Ryan Alejandre proposed to schedule some Kadayawan Festival activities in the afternoon instead of the morning to avoid the intense heat for the performers and spectators.
Alejandre, who is also the chairman of the Committee on Tourism and Beautification of the 20th City Council, said that he proposed the change of schedule to the Kadayawan Executive Committee (ExeCom).
“The heat index is very high so maluoy ta sa mga bata basig mag suffer sila sa (let’s have pity on children-performers as they might suffer) dehydration and many other conditions,” Alejandre said during an interview with the media.
The councilor proposed to start the Indak-Indak sa Kadalanan street dance at 3 p.m. followed by the main showdown at 6 p.m.
"Ang atong kalaban na lang in the afternoon is dili na ang init, but it might be the rain. Pero ang atong set-up man gihapon sa San Pedro [Street] is covered man gihapon. So safe gihapon siya (Our challenge in the afternoon is the rain, not anymore the intense heat. But we will still have a covered set-up in San Pedro Street so it is still safe)," Romero said.
Meanwhile, the Pamulak and Hudyaka sa Kadayawan, to be held the next day, will still be slated in the morning.
The Davao City government released the complete schedule of activities for this year's Kadayawan.
The two-week celebration will kick off with the Pag-abli sa Kadayawan on August 10, then the Agong ug Kulintangan sa Kadayawan Competition on August 12. Tabuan sa Kadayawan is from August 10 to 13.
Habi Kadayawan will be making its comeback this year on August 12, while the Hiyas sa Kadayawan Cultural Presentation (Talent Competition) will be on August 13, then Bantawan Cultural Celebration on August 14 to 16.
Dula Kadayawan and Hiyas sa Kadayawan Coronation Night will be on August 17, while Kasikas sa Kadayawan on August 18, then Konsierto Kadayawan on August 20.
The Kadayawan Village inside the Magsaysay Park will be open during the whole duration of the festival.