A celebration of thanksgiving and love

Last October 4, 2023, the San Francisco de Asis in Tagakpan celebrated its 24th Parochial fiesta.

In this year’s celebration, the parish prepared a lot of activities for its parishioners. Last September 30, 2023, the celebration started with the float parade which was participated by all Gagmayng Kristohanong Katilingbans (GKKs). After the parade, followed the presentation of Mr. and Mrs. San Francisco de Asis and showcased the beautiful and lovely couple candidates of various GKKs.

On that same day, the parish held a raffle draw. The first price was a mini truck, the second price a motorcycle and the third price was a television. Winners from the raffle cannot contain their excitement and enthusiasm. Those who failed to get the price, on the other hand, were not dismayed because they knew that what matters is they were able to help the parish.

Among the activities mentioned above, there’s a much-awaited activity that all parishioners were looking forward to and that was the Indak-indak festival. Its vibrant colors, upbeat music, and enthusiastic performances were what attracted the people. Despite the scorching heat of the sun, participants and GKK members gave all out performances. Naryll Abrio, a dancer from GKK Sta Catalina said that “Even if it’s tiring, I am still happy that I was able to make other people happy through our performance.”

One of the judges stated that “It was a tough competition, and we really had a hard time deciding who’ll be the winner because all of them won our hearts.”

Behind the scenes: GKK leaders and members

Behind that festive floats and breathtaking performances are the diligent and hard working GKK leaders and members who poured their hearts, time, and energy in preparing their entries.

In an interview with some GKK members, they mentioned that the preparation was really tiring because they had to juggle activities and had to make priorities. Choreographers of Indak-indak also mentioned that since most of the participants were students, time and other obligations were their greatest challenge.

Despite the struggles, Mr. Diovanne Salang, the choreographer of Zone 4 Subasta and the Champion of SFDA Indak-indak 2023 stated that “Through the efforts of each individual which developed the participation especially our younger members, the numerous sleepless nights devoted for practice and making of props and costumes make up the formula for the success.”

Behind the scenes: Parochial Fiesta Committee

The 24th parochial fiesta wouldn’t be as successful as it was if it weren’t because of the parish working group and committee. Leaders and representatives were gathered as one to collaborate, plan, and facilitate the activities they have prepared. Mrs. Emerita Alcaria, the chairperson of the program committee said that “In planning this celebration, we really poured our hearts and effort to make this event possible. We constantly held meetings, even how late it was, to make sure that every activity would be as smooth as possible.”

The committee met a lot of challenges, with financial support being the number one challenge that they had faced. The Parish Secretary and one of the officers of the Program committee, said that “We’ve encountered a lot of challenges, and of it was the finances and funding of the event. Despite that, we were able to face those difficulties with the support of our GKK leaders and members. Without them, this event wouldn’t be possible.”

The success of the event was truly remarkable, not just to the participants, but also to the audience who came from both neighboring and distant communities, just to witness the events of parish. With the successful turn of events, bigger activities and a better presentation will be expected as the San Francisco de Asis Parish of Tagakpan will be celebrating its 25th fiesta next year. (April Estipona | GKK Sta. Catalina Zone 2)