Cabibi (Shells) Festival Signifies Transition to Christianity

CABIBI FESTIVAL

Photo from: https://business.inquirer.net/15341/fiesta-as-an-economic-activity

CABIBI FESTIVAL is the patronal town fiesta of Lal-lo (former Ciudad Nueva Segovia during the Spanish colonial period) in Cagayan from August 1-4th of the year. The four-day festival features trade fairs and street dancing to celebrate the town’s transition from paganism into Christianity during the Spanish colonization. Cabibi is a local term for the shells found on the banks of Cagayan River. Read More: http://housewifeatwork.blogspot.com/2013/08/lal-lo-cagayan-cabibi-festival.html

Photo from: http://northernforum.net/aggao-nac-cagayan-2017-excludes-bb-cagayan-pageant/

The faraway town of Lal-lo, Cagayan – north of the capital city of Tuguegarao (which is itself 483 kilometers north of Manila) – is trying to recover its lost glory. It was, after all, during olden days an important religious and political center in the Cagayan Valley.

The cabibi (shells and shellfish) are a major agro-industrial activity in the town, which is along the Cagayan River, said to be one of the longest in the world. Three big barangay (villages) depend for their livelihood on the cabibi, which can be found in abundance year-round except during certain months when the current is strong. Read more: https://business.inquirer.net/15341/fiesta-as-an-economic-activity#ixzz5RHJMwHVN

Photo from: http://housewifeatwork.blogspot.com/2013/08/lal-lo-cagayan-cabibi-festival.html

The 7th Cabibi festival of Lal-lo town in northern Cagayan Valley is a fitting climax to the weeklong celebration of the town’s fiesta. It is also in honor of the unique shell found only in the Cagayan River that passes through this town. The beat of the drums and bugle corps is said to resemble the sound of the current that flows along the mighty river. Thus in Lal-lo, they say, this annual festival is a tribute to the link between this town’s pagan past and its Christian present. Read More: https://www.clickthecity.com/travel/a/1966/the-cabibi-festival-of-lal-lo

Photo from: https://business.inquirer.net/15341/fiesta-as-an-economic-activity/cagayan-lal-lo-cabibi-fest-aetas