Woven Dreams

July 11, 2014, Friday.

Opening of the T’nalak Festival.

Thematic Parade overseen in front of NDMU main gate.

It was class hours but our teacher was somehow late so we grabbed the opportunity to watch the parade. It was already half way when we arrived in front of NDMU main gate. Though it was already that late, it is still worth watching for. The costumes of the participants were so very colorful. The music overpowering the area were so electrifying that I could really feel the spirit of festivity. The floats were extraordinary that you really see how well the participants really prepared themselves for the said event. And these only show how Filipinos, how South Cotabateños really express their pride of Timog Cotabato.

Just by watching the parade, somehow I could already grasped how very rich the culture of each town here in South Cotabato, with the various tribes that settled here, there is no doubt that South Cotabato has one of the richest culture here in the Philippines. Not only that, but we could also cultivate and harvest here  rich natural resources and fascinating sceneries from the serenity of Mt. Matutum down to the captivating Seven Falls of Lake Sebu.

South Cotabato really progresses a lot. This year, I could really see the big improvements of the province. It is on this parade that each town here in South Cotabato could show how well they have been through for the past year. It is on this parade that we could amazingly feel the already existing unity among people here in South Cotabato. And in this festival, it highlights the famous t’nalak fabric that symbolizes the culture of South Cotabato.

“The traditional t'nalak cloth is meticulously handwoven by the T'bolis, in a laborious, steady process of dyeing, heating, and beating. Intense and unique striking colors are produced in its material as are the patterns, which come from the weavers' dreams. This symbolic woven dreams is an integral part of the South Cotabato heritage, whose dynamic progress weaves a harmonic yet intricate tapestry of peoples, culture and traditions.” – Jojie Alcantara, Sun Star Davao

            It is good to have this thematic parade that concretely shows how diverse our culture is yet united with that very same dream symbolically woven harmoniously like in the fabric of t’nalak.