TACLOBAN CITY – The Kasadyaan Festival of Festivals, Leyte’s premier cultural celebration, has been cancelled this year due to the lack of participating local government units (LGUs).
This was confirmed by Palo Mayor Remedios Petilla, the festival’s executive chairperson and founder, who started the event in 1995 during her term as Leyte governor.
Petilla said that only the municipalities of Matag-ob, Javier, and Abuyog had expressed intent to join this year’s festival, traditionally held every June as part of Tacloban City’s fiesta in honor of its patron, Santo Niño.
“So the executive committee decided not to stage this year’s Kasadyaan Festival of Festivals due to the lack of participants,” Petilla said in an interview on Thursday, May 29.
She explained that several mayors cited the recently concluded elections as a reason for not being able to prepare their contingents and festival presentations.
“They didn’t want to participate just for the sake of participating, knowing it could result in mediocre performances,” she added.
Despite this year’s cancellation, Petilla assured the public that the festival will return in 2026, with LGUs already pledging their commitment to join.
In 2023, the festival featured 10 contingents, with Javier town emerging as the champion.
The last time the event was not held was during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021.
In 2014, a year after Super Typhoon ‘Yolanda’ devastated the province, the festival was held but was toned down, focusing on prayers and thanksgiving rather than grand performances.
The Kasadyaan Festival, named after the Visayan word for “happiness” or “merriment”, was created as a platform to showcase the rich cultural heritage and festival traditions of Leyte’s municipalities.
Over the years, winning contingents from Kasadyaan have gone on to earn top honors in prestigious national events such as the Sinulog Festival in Cebu and Aliwan Fiesta in Manila.
(JOEY A. GABIETA, ROEL T. AMAZONA)
