Lambunao's Binanog Festival

The BINANOG FESTIVAL is a traditional Philippine celebration and courtship dance performed by the Bukidnon tribe of Lambunao. The dance involves movements in imitation of the flight of the hawk or banog, after which the dance is named. It is performed in honor of the Sto. Nino in a festival that takes place during the 2nd Sunday of January. The dance actually consists of three dance forms: the Binanugan, wherein the movements of the birds are imitated; the Inagong sayaw-sayaw, which is a form of celebration dance; and; the Dinagmay, which is a courtship dance. The rhythmic beating of drums and gongs accompanies the dance.

According to history, the Binanog dance and the Bukidnons of Lambunao and Central Panay, tackles the richness of the Bukidnons of Lambunao in terms of the culture and the tradition that make Binanog dance one of the strong pillars of its claim of wealth. It also presents the theories of the origin of these people and shows their location and distribution.

The dance can be a mode of worship, or a courtly pastime. With urbanization contributing to the decline in the art, a program for its revival was launched couple of years ago with the creation of the Binanog Festival.The gem of the exhibition is the tribe competition that highlights the mating of banog birds accompanied by the symbolic beating of the gong, synchronizing with the vibrant movement emphasizing footwork and speed. The dance reaches its climax as the female dancers catches her male partner using a handkerchief.