Waving Our Batbat

Binatbatan Festival is connected to Vigan’s abel Iloco craft. The dance depicts how cotton pods are beaten with bamboo sticks to release the cotton fluff called batbat from its seed. This festival was started in 2002 to showcase this traditional weaving craft that is said to predate the arrival of the Spaniards.

The Iluko phrase batbatin refers to the process of removing cotton balls from the seeds of the native fruit tree kapas sanglay. The cotton balls are then spun and used to weave the abel, which was among the local products supplied during the galleon trade from the 15th to the 18th centuries by Chinese merchants based in Ciudad Fernandina, the old Vigan. It's no surprise that abel goods were on display at the festival. Mayor Eva Singson-Medina of Vigan is all for promoting them. She stated that they want to revive traditional Iluko hand weaving and produce not only abel cloth but also items made from it.

The streets were closed, and people congregated in specific areas. The drums are pounding loudly and clearly. The street dancers proudly exclaim "Viva Vigan!" in colorful costumes which are made of abel iloco. The Binatbatan festival has grown to be one of the largest cultural gatherings in the Philippine archipelago. Binatbatan Festival street dancers wave their "batbat," some imitating the way used by abel-weavers in separating cottons as they gracefully conduct the process artistically to the beat of drums and lyres rolling along the historic streets of Vigan's heritage city.

Sources: https://eazytraveler.net/2012/05/viva-vigan-binatbatan-festival-of-the-arts-2012/

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