Kinabayo Festival

Kinabayo   is    an  exotic  and  colorful   pageant   re-enacting  the Spanish-Moorish  wars,  particularly the Battle of Covadonga.  In  that battle the Spanish forces under General Pelagio took their last stand against the Saracens. They were able to reverse the tide of the war with  the miraculous  apparition of  Saint James,   the Apostle.   The addition of local color and innovations has made this annual festivity a popular attraction to visitors of Dapitan.

Kinabayo Festival

From a Traditional Religious Pageant to a Festival

                 Presently, the Kinabayo Festival is a merging of religious, historical, cultural, social and economic elements, These include sports competition, night presentations, a beauty pageant, agro-trade fairs, street dancing and showdown, street parties and live band concert.

                   During the pre-Spanish times, Dapitan was a tribal settlement of the migrant Boholanos led by Datu (chieftain) Pagbuaya. Moro pirates sail in from the sea to plunder the tribal village.

                The Spanish Jesuit missionaries arrived in Dapitan in 1629 and discovered the place was similar to Spain which was harassed by Moor invaders centuries before. This made them choose  St. James the Greater as the settlement’s patron saint with hope that as he help the Christians from defeat against the Moors in the Battle of Clavijo in 844 A.D., so shall he came to help the beleaguered Christian defenders of Dapitan against the Moro raiders.

                 Old Dapitanon folks attribute divine intervention of St. James the Greater not only from the Moro invaders but also from lawless elements and natural calamities like typhoons, earthquakes, lightning, thunder and epidemics.

                 In the past, Dapitanons reenacted, through a traditional pageant, the Battle of Covadonga in 722 A.D. {recently made correct to be the Battle of Clavijo during its feast day on July 25. Participants were men divided into two groups, attired as Christian and Moorish soldiers riding in mock horses made of rattan and bamboo, hence the term ”Kinabayo”. The climax of the pageant is the appearance of St. James the Greater astride in a white horse slashing at his imaginary enemies with a sword to the delight and adoring shouts of the devotees of the warrior saint.

                 In 2001, a research on Señor Santiago in Spain made by Mr. Thaddeus T. Hamoy of the Department of Foreign Affairs and with the advent of the internet, the historical inaccuracy and confusion regarding the Battles of Convadonga and Clavijo was brought to the attention of the Dapitanons. Since then the Kinabayo tableau or pageant has been expanded to the said two battles. The Battle of Covadonga, with the apparition of the Blessed Mother to Dom Pelayo with angels rolling down boulders of rocks and stones upon the Muslims and the Battle of Clavijo led by King Ramiro with the apparition of Señor Santiago.

                This correction will strengthen the storyline of the struggle of Spain and Christianity against the Moors and Islam. More importantly, it will also give the deserve importance to the Blessed Mother, not only because she won the battle for Dom Pelayo, but more importantly, emphasize her closeness to Señor Santiago during his apostolate in Spain after the Pentecost (Nuestra Señora del Pilar, Zaragosa)

                 The modification of the storyline will subtly correct the inaccuracy, and at the same time, enrich the pageantry and its significance.