30th Kali-Kalihan fest kicks off

By Dolly Yasa

BACOLOD City – The 30th Kali-Kalihan Festival of Don Salvador Benedicto, Negros Occ. kicked off on Friday with 25 boxing matches.

The 10- day festivities will culminate on Feb 9, 2020.

DSB Mayor Marxlen de la Cruz said the town, which is known as the summer capital of the province due to its cool weather, is also celebrating its 37th founding anniversary.

The official opening ceremony of the festivities will be on Feb 3 through the Farmers’ Day where farmers’ produce will be showcased.

This will be followed by the Health Day on Feb 4 where local health officials will conduct information drive on the novel coronavirus, de la Cruz said.

On Feb 5 is the Youth and LGBT Day. On Feb 6, the Department of Social Services and Development will provide services to various sectors, especially the senior citizens, women and PWDs.

Feb 7 will be the Department of Education Day, and on Feb 8  2020 will be the pageant night for the Search of Diwata ng Kali-Kalihan where the judges will be headed by reigning Binibining Pilipinas Intercontinental Enma Tiglao.

De la Cruz said the finale of the celebration is the Kali-Kalihan street dancing competition on Feb. 9 that will be participated by 9 groups from local schools.

Guests expected to join the highlight are celebrities Barbie Imperial and Brazilian actress Daiana Menezes.

De la Cruz is also set to deliver the state of the municipality address evening of February 9, 2020 to cap the festivities.

The Kali-kalihan Harvest Festival illustrates the diverse traditional and cultural heritage of Negrenses through the different activities such as street dance parades, pageants and presentations.

De la Cruz said they adopted the art of “kali” as their cultural heritage. It is also known as “escrima” or “arnis.”

“Kali” has been the traditional martial arts of Filipinos since the 7^th century.