TWO years after the Covid-19 pandemic halted life here, officials are coming out in the open spending money and believe it or not, sprinkling water on Chinese dragons to bring luck to the city’s August 28 fiesta celebration.
Officials took turns sprinkling water on dragon heads and painting their eyes to herald the launching of the two-day “1st Kagay-an International Dragon Boat Race.”
The dragon race is one of the core events for the Higalaay Festival, a month of festivities leading up to the August 28 celebration of the Feast of Saint Augustine of Hippo, Cagayan de Oro’s patron saint.
Higalaay Festival did not run for two years when the Covid-19 pandemic infected more than 25,945 residents and left at least 941 residents dead from 2020 to 2022.
Most of the city residents hunkered down in their homes as the city government imposed strict quarantine rules to prevent the spread of the coronavirus infection.
Cagayan de Oro City information officer Ivy Guantero said the pandemic period is now over and the city government wants residents to enjoy life again and most importantly for the tourists to come back.
“The dragons symbolize strength and prosperity. We want the dragons to blow away the bad spirits and bring back the good,” Guantero said.
City Tourism Officer Rico Libre said the city government spent P1.6 million to bring some 689 participants to the boat race that will start on Saturday to Sunday (August 19 to 20).
“We spent for the judges, food, prize money, and hotel for officials. We really wanted the dragon race to be successful because this is our first international event,” Libre told reporters in the press conference last Friday.
More than 19 teams from various parts of the country, Malaysia and Hongkong are participating in the dragon boat race along the Cagayan River.
Christian Mendoza of the Hongkong dragon boat team said they were impressed with how the local organizers managed to solve the logistics problems of the race.
“The moment we arrived in Manila, the organizers were answering our needs from connecting flights to our bags,” Mendoza said.
Department of Tourism-10 Director Marie Elaine Unchuan said their office made sure that the teams from Hongkong and Malaysia enjoy a hassle-free stay in Cagayan de Oro City.
“We made arrangements that their transfer flights are seamless as we can possibly can,” Unchuan said.
Aside from the dragon boat race, Guantero said there is a trade fair at the Limketkai shopping mall on Sunday; the traditional civic-military parade around the city on Aug. 27, and a fluvial procession from Macabalan to City Hall on Aug. 28.
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