Apart from being the Ilocano word for scarecrow, Bambanti is also the name of the award-winning annual festival of Isabela Province. Of course it makes sense that the colorful Bambanti is the mascot and icon of the Bambanti Festival, which begins today January 22 and end on Saturday, January 27.
With events like are street dances, showdown competitions, street performances, a search for Bambanti Festival King and Queen, and the most important – at least in our book – the Isabela’s Master Kusinero Cooking Contest, Bambanti Festival aims to highlight the province’s rich cultural heritage, lifestyle, products, and food.
Taking home the Best Festival Practices and Performance Aliw Awards from 2015-2017, it’s safe to say that the local government of Isabela has been doing a good job.
From last year’s “Isabela Para sa Daigdig”, the theme for this year's Bambanti Festival is “Isabela Kong Mahal”, depicting Isabeleños’ ardent love for the love of their province. — LA, GMA News
Although named after a Spanish queen, the province of Isabela celebrates yearly the lowly scarecrow, which despite being inanimate, has been a “friend” to farmers in many parts of the world, including the Philippines, for generations.
The scarecrow or bambanti in Ilocano, the predominant language in the second northernmost province, has been the low-technology protector of farmlands from birds that would otherwise devastate agricultural crops.
Not surprisingly, for Isabela, self-proclaimed center of agriculture in the country, the bambanti represents the best of the province and her people—silent but vigilant and resilient.
The Agri-Ecotourism Fair this year was participated in by majority of Isabela’s 34 municipalities and three cities, including the capital Ilagan.
Isabela enthusiastically pursues the one town-one product (OTOP) campaign initiated by then President Fidel V. Ramos.
This was evident in the offerings of every booth in the agri-ecotourism fair including chocolate-scented pinilisan red rice, corn (Isabela is reputedly the country’s corn capital), sugar, cacao, monggo and other legumes, mushrooms, mangoes, ube, and various rice cakes.
The distinctive products of each town were also showcased in the giant bambanti that “guarded” the agri-tourism booths. Beans and legumes, rice, corn, seashells and many other materials went into the making of the different scarecrows, depending on the main crop or product of the town or city they represented.
BY ALYSSA ASHLEY LUCAS (The Manila Times) ON FEBRUARY 18, 2018
Considered the “Queen Province of the North,” Isabela exuded an aura of pride and joy as the last fireworks lit up the sky. The crowd applauded, ending the night on a high—after months’ worth of laborious preparation made for a successful 2018 Bambanti Festival.
Typically overlooked as a tourist destination, Isabela actually abounds with white beaches and highlands of the neighboring provinces. Add the vast fields of rice and corn blanketing its land, which are commonly mistaken as the only sights in the province. While the fields are a great sight, they often obscure what the northern beauty really has to offer.
Seeing past through its thriving agricultural production, though, one will see a province rich in culture with a vibrant past, gorgeous attractions, and beautiful people that make up its northern charm.
Bambanti – the Ilocano word for scarecrow – is an award-winning festivity that honors the hard work and dedication of Isabeliños, as well as a showcase of the province’s commodities. It is likewise known as one of the biggest festivals in the north that people from different parts of the country attend each year.
With this year’s festival theme, “Isabela Kong Mahal” (Isabela, My Beloved Land), the northern province became a feast to the eyes for one glorious week in January. Gorgeous booths delicately lined up, built and designed with intricate details from the 34 municipalities and three cities attracted visitors for the wide variety of indigenous products worthy of global recognition.
