TABUK CITY, Kalinga – Kalinga’s upcoming Bodong Festival may become the most historical event with organizers aiming to set a world record with the ‘Awong Chi Gangsa, Agtun Chi Banga’ or Call of a Thousand Gongs, Dance of a Thousand Pots.
Organizers said they are eyeing to put the name of Kalinga in the Guinness Book of World Records for the largest performance of gong players and banga (pot) dancers.
The event will see at least a thousand male gong players and a thousand women banga dancers from the seven municipalities of Kalinga and the city of Tabuk dance for unity and peace as one of the highlights of the 4th Bodong Festival and 28th Kalinga Founding Anniversary.
The event is the festival’s biggest spectacle, aimed at generating tourism for the province which for the last two years has not been able to celebrate the festival fully due to pandemic restrictions.
But more than a spectacle, the ‘Awong Chi Gangsa; Agtu’n Chi Banga’ is at its heart a symbolic show of peace among the different tribes of Kalinga, according to Bishop Prudencio Andaya, the brain behind the event and the chairman of its steering committee.
Kalinga is composed of dozens of sub-tribes who have historically warred with each other. Peace was restored and maintained through the unique indigenous peace-keeping system ‘bodong’ which has been practiced for centuries.
Government James Edubba is banking on the support and the cooperation of the local government units for the success of the event.
To motivate the city and municipal local government units, the provincial government will give incentives to the contingents who will send the most number of participants.
The ‘Awong Chi Gangsa, Agtun Chi Banga’ will be held at the Kalinga Sports Complex on February 15, 2023.
