As the 2024 Olympics winds down to its final stages and the world waits with bated breath for the usual spectacular closing ceremony in Paris, and our country's political turbulence is getting out of control, here in Davao, we say “Happy Kadayawan to all!”
One of the reasons why Davao is known and most visited is because of its Kadayawan Festival.
Kadayawan Festival is a celebration of life, a thanksgiving for the gifts of nature, the wealth of culture, the bounties of harvest and serenity of living. If you come to Davao at this time, you will see fruits’ prices have marked down everywhere and all malls have their month-long sale of all items! This is also the time when all the 11 tribes of Davao region are honored.
Davao is getting so much attention every August, but most parts of Mindanao usually start to celebrate in July until September because it is the harvest season for fruits and vegetables.
My aunt started supplying vendors with the fruits from her farm such as Rambutan and Durian to help them earn a living. Are you familiar with these fruits? Do you eat them? Well, I am just asking because I see them here and there, but I don’t eat them. Hahaha!
Rambutan is a small red oval fruit with a spiny yet soft skin/peel. The fruit looks like longan and lychee. I have tried it before but stopped craving it since I had my dental braces installed. Some say that eating Rambutan spikes up uric acid, so the elderly are also cautious when eating it.
Durian is on the other hand a big green oval fruit with a spiny yet hard shell/peel. It has a very strong scent. Some like it, some don’t. It is soft and chewy inside. I never tried eating it except when it is processed as a candy and combined with milk. It is a rare fruit in Luzon and Visayas.
Moving on, local government units celebrated Nutrition Month last July and showcased their booths full of fresh and natural bounties from their farms.
Schools did the same too by displaying fruits and vegetables in their campuses, making food products out of them such as salads.
The fertile soil of Mindanao, where plants, fruits and vegetables grow abundantly, is one of the reasons why it is known as the Land of Promise and food basket of the Philippines, aside from its rich biodiversity.
Let me end this by showing some favorite paintings I bought from a friend who loves to depict the lives of the Mindanao people.
Photos edited with Pic Collage.