Barangay Cannery's Pinyahan Festival

Barangay Cannery is one of the 23 barangays in Polomolok, South Cotabato. Known to be the home of food manufacturing giant Dole Philippines. "Brgy. Cannery" is so called due to the fact that it houses the cannery and food processing plants of Dole..and this is where I live... I wake up each morning with the smell and view of pineapples. My first year here, i got really sick of seeing them...imagine even dreaming about pineapples occasionally.. hehe. My garden even sprouts pineapples out of nowhere.. well, maybe due to the fact that the garden soil they dumped on my garden came from previously planted pineapples. But then, tasting Dole's MG3 pineapples makes one change her mind..and I've grown to love anything "pineapple", may it be the fruit, the juice, the ornament you hang on New Year's eve...

Okay I know you get the picture..Brgy Cannery is a pineapple haven.. everything here has "pineapple" written over it. Even the acclaimed Gala Bakeshop here sells spanish bread with pineapples! --but try them they're really yummy! hmmm.. here i am dilly dallying again..so back to Brgy. Cannery.. one of the events that gets people here really excited is none other than it's annual - Pinyahan Festival.

"What? a festival in the barangay level?" Yep.. you heard it right. The Pinyahan Festival is the only festival sponsored by the local barangay. Polomolok by the way has a municipal-wide festival of it's own -the F'lomlok Festival which would be a different blog for me altogether. So back to the Pinyahan Festival..it is the brainchild of Brgy Capt. Mariano Superioridad who wanted a celebration of sorts giving importance to Brgy Cannery's main source of income - the lowly pineapple.

Since its inception 3 years ago, it has been a time for merriment and camaraderie among the people here. What with the successful activities like the street dancing competion, ethno-cultural shows,  Pinyahan Festival Queen, sportsfest, fireworks and comedy shows to look forward to, each year the participation of people here seems to be growing. My personal favorites are the "Lumba Kalabaw" -- a carabao race which really proves to be hilarious and a total crowd drawer and the street dancing competition --where you'll be amazed at the creativity and love the people here show for the pineapple through their painted faces (they're green mind you..not your usual black ati =)) and colorful costumes.

The 3rd Pinyahan Festival 2010 starts on August 20 until September 1, 2010. I'll be posting this year's calendar of activities in another blog so watch out for it! For the moment, just enjoy the pictures of Mr OSG below. thanks for viewing and reading!