Banig Festival Showcases the Humble Handwoven Banig (Mat)

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BANIG FESTIVAL

Photo from: https://rrhcssr.wordpress.com/cebu-festivals-2/

Banig Festival is a local festivity that is being celebrated by the residents of Badian Municipality, Cebu Province.

It is usually celebrated on July 25 to align with the feast day of its local patron saint – James the Apostle. This means that aside from promoting the local products, it also expresses the people’s religiosity and their sense of gratitude for this source of livelihood.

‘Banig’ is a hand-woven ethnic floor mat commonly used as traditional bed (floor spread) where users sleep on it. It is made of local plant leaves or stalks depending on the area and availability of the materials.

The festival itself is being celebrated by the locals as a fiesta which showcases the Cebuano and Badianganon culture and tradition. During this festivity, delicacies, various sorts of products (mostly organic) and its famous ‘banig’ (mat) are being showcased and are also available for purchase. Read More: http://www.cebu-bluewaters.com/banig-festival.html

Photo from: http://www.peanutbrowas.com/blog/archives/03-2017

A celebration of Badian’s annual fiesta, showcasing the Cebuano and Badianganon culture, tradition, delicacies and local products, especially its famous mats (banig).

Most of us must be familiar with the banig, that humble mat one spreads on a wooden or bamboo floor at night when one goes to sleep and in the morning is simply rolled to be unfurled again in the evening.

80 percent of the wives of farmers make a living from banig weaving. The process of making it is arduous beginning with the removal of thorns from the pandan plant (from which it is made), the dyeing and finally the weaving into the humble banig.

Because it is such a tedious process making it yet pitching only a very cheap price, children of weavers frown on it as a means of livelihood. They prefer instead to work in the city as domestic helpers and factory workers. Read More: http://badian.weebly.com/banig-festival.html

Photo from: http://www.cebu-bluewaters.com/banig-festival.html

The banig is a handwoven mat used mainly for sleeping. While buri or palm leaves are used in making the banig, it can also be made of pandanus or sea grass leaves. The material used depends on which part of the country it is made. This humble product, which is normally seen in the rural areas, takes the center stage in an annual festival in the southwestern town of Badian.

The Banig Festival of Badian showcases the culture and traditions of the residents of the town. In addition, it also highlights the products offered by the town, including the humble banig. Majority of the wives of the farmers in Badian make an honest wage through banig-weaving.

The Banig Festival features a parade where groups from different parts of the town dance along major roads. Each group chooses its own theme as long as the theme is related to the festival. Floats featuring an image of the patron saint of the town also join in the parade.

Aside from the parade, contests are also held during the town festival. Beauty contests, dance competitions, and even a banig-weaving contest are among the competitions people can join during the Banig Festival in Badian. Read More: http://www.peanutbrowas.com/blog/experience-the-banig-festival-of-badian

Photo from: http://marysanore.blogspot.com/