Tawo-tawo Festival in Bayawan

Bayawan – Negros Oriental

Bayawan-Tawo-tawo-festival

The Tawo-tawo Festival in Bayawan is annually celebrated on the month of February. It marks another season of bountiful harvest in the city of Bayawan. This festival is a thanksgiving celebration as well to the patron saint of the city, who is Santo Tomas Villanueva.

Tawo-tawo Festival and its History

Back in the days when farming was the means of livelihood in any province here in Negros Oriental, crows were the most hated creatures ever in the rice fields. Of course, farmers didn’t want to kill any of these lovely crows or maya birds so they so they decided to invent something to drive them away. Thus, the Tawo-tawo Festival was born. The term “tawo-tawo” literally means person-person (or person like). The tawo-tawo, better known today as scarecrows, drove the crows or maya birds away making the town happy again with the harvest.

Tawo-Tawo-Festival-Bayawan

After the yearly celebration of this tradition, Bayawan City was being recognized for their intellectual ways of solving farming issues. This brought news all over Negros Oriental and made people even more interested in watching the unique historical Tawo-tawo Festival.

Bayawan City, like every other municipality here in Negros Oriental, is a well-known religious town. The town decided to have a celebration in accordance with the Tawo-tawo festival and have a thanksgiving for the bountiful harvest to their patron saint who is Santo Tomas Villanueva.

This festival is absolutely unique and enjoyable. With colorful costumes, rice field crops and small kids dressed in bird costumes, even an old man watching TV would get up and dance with the Latin and Samba drum beat.

Other events such as the search for Miss Bayawan, live bands and variety shows are also being held during the celebration of Tawo-tawo festival.