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Held
every July 24, the City of Dapitan celebrates the
Kinabayo Festival. Kinabayo Festival is an exotic and
colorful pageant re-enacting the Spanish-Moorish wars,
particularly the Battle of Covadonga. The addition of
local color and innovations has made this annual
festivity a popular attraction to visitors of Dapitan.
St. James, the Greater is the patron saint of Dapitan
City. Earlier on into the Spanish rule, Dapitan was
still flooded by Moro pirates. The Jesuit priests
fatefully set up St. James, to protect the Dapitanons
from an attack of invaders. It was believed that in the
fifth century, an apparition of St. James, atop a horse
carrying a sword, guided the Spansih Christians into
victory over the Moors in the Battle of Covadonga. Three
centuries later, St. James still plays a significant
part in the Dapitanons’ lives. For the past three years
the Kinabayo Festival of Dapitan has been celebrated by
city folk centering on his feast day, July 25. On that
day a magnificent re-enactment of the Battle of
Covadonga is unfurled before the city folks and
tourists. |
