Dark horse Luna gallops its way to a dazzling finish
Looks like the year of the wood horse is actually the banner year of the municipality of Luna!
What started as a let’s-just-have-some-fun participation in the 2014 Bambanti Festival competitions ended up in Luna’s romping away with the over-all championship in the municipal category besting bigger and more affluent LGUs, certainly no small feat for what is considered as one of the smaller towns in the country’s second largest province.
While Mayor Jimmy Atayde attributes the victory to the remarkable work ethic and excellent teamwork among the creative team, the latter insists they certainly could not have done it without the hands-on, multitasking local chief executive who juggled governance and involvement in the creative process,
from conceptualization to execution, while providing moral and logistical support all throughout the rigorous rehearsals which started as early as November last year.
However, despite the municipal government’s tremendous assistance to its contingent, the performers were not pressured to win. Atayde’s instruction was for them to just give it their best shot and have some fun in the process.
Give their best they did. It was an awesome performance which merited a standing ovation from no less than Governor Dy, Vice Governor Albano and other dignitaries, while a great majority of the audience instinctively followed suit.
Such mindset worked in their favor during the actual performance because they came out relaxed, confident and very professional, especially in the death defying routine where performers were tossed in the air, in keeping with the “flying high” theme of the celebration.
Inspired by Luna’s performance in this year’s Bambanti, Atayde admits that he is already cooking up the concept for next year’s festival.
With such a dedicated team, gifted and disciplined performers and a mayor deeply steeped in culture and arts initiatives, imagine what heights Luna could conquer in the future.
