The contingents from Guinsay National High School is the Karansa Festival 2023 grand champion. | CDN File Photo by Gerard Jamora
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Karansa Festival of Danao City, Cebu returned with a bang after a four-year hiatus on Sunday, September 17, 2023.
The festival took a break due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and supertyphoon Odette in 2021, and the fire that hit their public market in 2022.
During its comeback on Sunday, the Karansa Festival was attended by more or less 6,000 spectators from in and outside the city.
There were 10 contingents from local schools in Danao City that competed in this year’s ritual showdown competition held at the Ramon Durano Sr. Sports Complex on Sunday, September 17, 2023.
Prior to the ritual showdown at 7 p.m., a street dancing competition was held starting at 2:30 p.m.
The street dance was originally scheduled at 1 p.m. but the organizers later moved it to an hour later because the heat index was between 37 to 40 degrees celsius, which wasn’t safe for the spectators.
The 10 competing contingents were the following:
Pundok sa Mapasigarbuhong Mananayaw sa Danao – Elpidio H. Perez Memorial Vocational High School
Hugpong sa Makugihong Bugsay Taytayanon – Taytay Integrated School
Pundok sa Mananayaw sa Distrito Sais – Maslog National High School
Tribu ni Beatriz – Beatriz D. Durano Memorial National High School
Pundok sa Nagkahiusang Loocanon – Bibiana Mercado Integrated School
Pundok sa Kabatan-onang Mananayaw sa Cahumayan – Cahumayan Senior High School & Ramon M. Durano Sr. Memorial National High School
Tribu Sabanganun – Sabang National High School
Hugpong sa Mahudyaka ug Remarkadong Danawanon – D.T. Durano Memorial Integrated School
Masidlakong Cogonanon – Cogon Cruz Integrated School
Pundok sa Nagkahiusang Mahudyakang Guinsayanon – Guinsay National High School
Karansa Festival 2023 Winners
The champion of this year’s ritual showdown was contingent number 10 from Pundok sa Nagkahiusang Mahudyakang Guinsayanon of the Guinsay National High School. The group won P150,000 cash prize.
They were also awarded as best in musicality.
The Pundok sa Nagkahiusang Loocanon of Bibiana Mercado Integrated School placed second and won P100,000 cash prize. The group was also awarded best in costume.
The Tribu ni Beatriz of Beatriz D. Durano Memorial National High School placed third for a P70,000 cash prize.
Meanwhile, the best in street dancing was the Hugpong sa Mahudyaka ug Remarkadong Danawanon of D.T. Durano Memorial Integrated School.
Danao City Mayor Thomas Mark “Mix” H. Durano expressed his gratitude to those who made possible the comeback of the most-awaited festival in the city.
“Atong pandemic, wa kaayo ta mo celebrate pero nagcelebrate gihapon ta ni Santo Tomas [de Villanueva]. Pero dili ingon ani na festival kaayo. Unya nasunod pa sa bagyong Odette unya nasunugan ang atong public market, mao na kami didto mi ni concentrate nga fiesta sa atong mga kaigsuonan nga nasunugan,” Durano said.
(During the pandemic, we did not really celebrate but we did celebrate Santo Tomas [de Villanueva]. But not like this with a festival atmosphere. And then Typhoon Odette followed and our public market was destroyed by a fire, that is why we concentrated the fiesta to our brothers who were affected by the fire.)
He added that since the situation had finally stabilized, they were able to bring back the festive and lively celebration of Karansa Festival.
Distribution of financial assistance
Meanwhile, Senator Imee Marcos was also present during the celebration to lead the distribution of financial assistance to individuals in crisis situations (AICS) of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in the city.
There were 998 beneficiaries of AICS and each of them received P3,000. The beneficiaries were the victims of the public market fire in 2022, demolitions, and landslides.
She also distributed some nutribuns to the children in the venue and witnessed the ritual dance competition afterwards.
However, she left after the performance of the first contingent to attend to another appointment.
The Karansa Festival of Danao City started in 1980 and it is slated every third Sunday of September.
This year’s festival celebration ended at around 10 p.m. It is held in line with the Feast of Sto. Tomas de Villanueva, the patron saint of Danao.
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