Mahin launches Sarangani’s summer festivals

By BEVERLY C. PAOYON GLAN, Sarangani (April 18, 2012) – Glan’s Mahin Festival kicks off vacation fun in Sarangani as this is the onset of summer festivals that would climax with a sunset-to-sunrise beach party during the famed SarBay Fest next month in the white sands of Gumasa. The successful maiden celebration of Mahin Festival last year triggered expectations of a bigger crowd to the three-day festivity starting tomorrow (April 19) until April 21. As usual, Lumba sa Kabayo (horse race), Palupad Tabanog (kite flying), Bangkarera (boat race), Pintados (body painting), beach volleyball and football, Bikini Open, concerts (featuring Blakdyak) and fireworks display are the lined up activities. Events during the first day (April 19) will be held at The Grove Beach in barangay Tango while in the next two days will be at Coco Beach in Gumasa. What makes it distinct from Sarangani Bay Festival (SarBay Fest) on May 18-19, as a local historian in Glan and Sangguniang Bayan Committee on Tourism chair Dr. Jose Tranquilino L. Ruiz has once said, Mahin is a festival which “brings back traditional beach activities the townsfolk have been fond of doing since then like horse racing at the shoreline.” “Games like this are now being forgotten,” Ruiz lamented. Mahin is a Blaan word for ‘beach’ signifying the tranquility, calmness and mystery of water while the term was also coined to pay tribute to the first tribal inhabitants of Glan who are the Blaans. Ruiz explained Mahin was basically conceptualized to also provide a generic name for both of the white and black sand beaches which are the second top revenue earners in Glan next to copra production. Special Ordinance No. 19-05 declaring April 2011 and every year thereafter to support the holding of celebration of Mahin Festival was also introduced. As stipulated in the ordinance, Mahin will “spur tourism development” as this serves as an avenue to inculcate in the minds of the people the importance of uplifting their “economic and social lives.” Sandwiched between Mahin Festival and SarBay Fest is Maitum’s Binuyugan Festival on May 3 to 7. (Beverly C. Paoyon/SARANGANI INFORMATION OFFICE)