Higalaay Festival is the annual fiesta celebration of Cagayan de Oro commemorating the feast day of St. Augustine who is the patron of the city and is a month-long celebration from the first day of August up until the end of the month. In this year's event, IDC participated as a major sponsor during the Higalaay Festival in the person of Mr. Giovanni Gusella, IDC's Senior PR Manager Mr. Gusella was invited to be one of the judges during the festival's parade last August 27, 2019.
"It was my first time to participate at The Higalaay Street Parade and Floats, and I was quite impressed to see how well organized was the parade with 138 contingents participating among which city's educational institutions, civic groups, fraternities and sororities, establishments and more," said Mr. Giovanni Gusella, IDC Senior PR Manager.
From the Bisayan word “higala”, “Higalaay” actually means “friendship”. Thus, Higalaay Festival implies “Friendship Festival, true to being “The City of Golden Friendship”. Higalaay Festival was formerly known as Kagay-an Festival until the year 2014 when the city administration was modified.
Italpinas had been partnering with the City Government of Cagayan de Oro since the commencement of its first development the Primavera Residences. It has been IDC's long-standing tradition to support the city in all ways possible.
"It is my pleasure and honor to be a member of the board of jurors, given the unique opportunity of judging the best 3 floats, among the 8 competing floats in this years competition. The floats were artistically done. All of them tell the story of the rich heritage of the city. I was learning more about the culture of Cagayan de Oro while judging, it was such a unique and enjoyable experience" he added.
The “Giant Motorela” Uni Writing Instrument won the grand prize. Motorela came from the word “Caretella” which is one of the most common vehicles right now in Cagayan de Oro now became the face of transport in the city. The Motorela is an iconic Kagay-anon vehicle, invented by Rafael D. Floirendo, Sr . The Motorela roamed the streets of Cagayan de Oro since the 60’s and has became a favorite icon of the city.
The second place of the Higalaay float parade is from Support Zebra on their "Giant Oro Fish". While the 3rd place won by the Del Monte Philippines Inc. with their Del Monte’s Pineapple Cannery design.
