Albay town scraps Pinangat Festival anew due to COVID-19

BOODLE FIGHT | The street boodle fight for “pinangat,” one of Bicol’s famous dishes, is one of the highlights of the Pinangat Festival staged in Camalig town, Albay province. It was last held in May 2019 and has been suspended for the past three years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. (Photo courtesy of FRANKLYN DEO NEBREJA)

CAMALIG, Albay, Philippines — The municipal government of Camalig in Albay province has again canceled the celebration of the Pinangat Festival this year to prevent the possibility of COVID-19 infections among residents and visitors.

The celebration of the festival was originally scheduled from June 15 to June 24 but was called off after a health-care worker, who hails from the town and works at Bicol Regional Training and Teaching Hospital in Albay’s capital city of Legazpi, tested positive for the virus.

Camalig Mayor Carlos Irwin Baldo Jr. said in a text message on June 1 that the worker has already recovered but the cancellation of the festival was a preventive measure that the town officials felt had to be taken.

Health officials in Camalig said the town’s lone case was recorded on May 21 and was declared healed on May 31.

At the onset of the pandemic in 2020, the celebration of the Pinangat Festival was canceled. For the past two years, all events related to the festival have been put on hold to prevent the spread of the virus.

“We just wanted to keep the public from harm’s way and it is very necessary for them to stay safe and healthy considering there are still active cases in the neighboring municipalities, so we are canceling the event,” Baldo stressed.

Camalig is known as the source of the best made “pinangat,” also known as “laing,” one of Bicol’s famous dishes. It is made of shredded or whole taro leaves with meat or seafood cooked in thick coconut milk spiced with labuyo chili, lemongrass, garlic, shallots, ginger, and shrimp paste.

Baldo said the activities of the 22-year-old festival, particularly the pinangat making race, longest line, eating contest, and street dancing, would be rescheduled in 2023.

Unlike other localities that have staged their respective festivals and events via online platforms since 2020, Baldo said the local government decided to completely cancel the staging of the festival since most of the lined-up activities could only be done in-person and with “people’s participation.”

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