Tips to Improve the Kadayawan sa Davao Festival 2011

The 25th staging of the kadayawan sa Davao Festival is a huge success. There’s just a lot of tourists having a great time in Davao. Many also came from nearby provinces of Mindanao to experience the fiesta. This year’s Kadayawan is just my second time, but let me share you some of my thoughts on this year’s festival to improve the Kadayawan Festival 2011.

1. Tourist Assistance at the airport – Upon arrival at the Davao International Airport, what greeted me (even before I got my checked in luggage), were friendly Davaoenas handing out tourist maps, complete with info on where to eat, what to do, where to stay. I TOTALLY LOVE THIS! The brochures and flyers were a big help during my stay in Davao. I hope all major cities with big festivals would follow suit.

2. Provide a venue for a Food Festival – Many local restaurants are thriving despite competition from large food chains. Why? Because Davao is a haven of best tasting local foods. More than the durian, and Mangosteen, a lot of food joints in Davao needs to be promoted well. I hope there’ll be a street somewhere where local restaurants can set up booth and serve their delicacies. This is also done in January in Iloilo City during the Dinagyang Festival and in Bacolod during the Masskara Festival in October. Both food fests are a big hit among the tourists and the locals alike.

3. Specific assigned area for photographers/media – Two years ago, I went to Davao to cover the Kadayawan Festival 2008. During that time, no media ID’s were distributed to the photographers. I shot at the Marco Polo area during the morning street dance parade. There were no Media IDs but everything was very orderly. The crowd control guys were able to separate the spectators from those with cameras. This year is full of chaos. I shot the morning street dance at the Marco Polo and to my surprise, there was no assigned area for photographers. Naghalo na ang spectators, at mga photographers. It was really chaotic. I hope this system can be improved next year.

4. Crowd control – Crowd control during festival is very very hard. With a lot of tourists + locals going out in the street to witness the grand event. It’s not easy to manage a crowd especially with a very limited staff to handle it. But here’s my suggestion to further improve the Kadayawan 2011. Why not tap the CAT and ROTC students to do the crowd control? This is being practiced in Cebu Sinulog, Bacolod Masskara, and Iloilo Dinagyang Festivals. This has effectively control the tulakan of the crowd. You can request the schools to do this.

5. Please tell the sponsors to avoid throwing candies/freebies during the Pamulak. Giving out freebies during the Pamulak Parade looks fun, but it gets chaotic a minute later. Being a Bacoleno, I have also experienced this kind of activity before especially during the Charter Day parade. But, If I am not mistaken, the Masskara Festival Organizers have already discouraged this practice to avooid stampede, or worse, accidents. We’re all out in the streets to enjoy the beautiful floats, and not to get bumped and bruised.

6. Add more banderitas at the city center. – Banderitas are a big boost in uplifting the festive mood of the city. the more banderitas you have the more festive it looks. Seriously, hindi ko masyado na feel yung festive mood na yun… It would be great if we can tap companies to provide banderitas all over the city center, more festival Banners, or temporary welcome arches announcing the City Festival.

There, I only listed six, but I am very very sure that it can further improve the Kadayawan sa Davao Festival 2011. I am looking forward to be back in Davao again to witness Mindanao’s biggest festival next year!

Postscript: I already have a plane ticket for Kadyawan Festival 2011. I will be roaming all over the place for one week!