Baguio City will hold the fourth run of the Ibagiw Creative City Festival this whole month of November, with the theme “Create. Integrate. Elevate.” This is the second year in a row that the festival is being celebrated amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
This year, the festival continues to showcase and give homage to local artists, artisans, and crafters who are the main reason why the city received its designation as Creative City for Crafts and Folk Arts from UNESCO. Activities and events will center around the creatives and their creations.
According to Council for Baguio Creative City Co-Chair and BACCI President Raymundo Rovillos, the Ibagiw Festival has been recognized by no less than the UNESCO Creative Cities Network Secretary Denise Bax as one of the best practices for creative cities to emulate, especially during these challenging times.
Create. Integrate. Elevate.
This year’s theme emphasizes the importance of the creative spirit and fuelling it (CREATE), the need to work together and collaborate towards a common goal (INTEGRATE), which is to lift up (ELEVATE) and improve the plight of the creative sector.
As with last year’s festival, the public and the private sector once again come together and contribute to this continuous celebration of our creatives. The Baguio City LGU, through the Baguio Tourism Council and the multi-sectoral Council for Baguio Creative City, is joined by national government agencies such as the Department of Tourism-Cordillera Administrative Region and the Department of Trade and Industry – Cordillera Administrative Region in this initiatives. The academe and the private sector also pitch in through various events.
Festival Highlights
Artisans and crafters take center stage in various activities, such as documentaries on the crafts and the crafters by Museo Kordilyera, the arts and crafts demonstrations at the Art in the Park, and the Cordillera Weaves Exhibit and Village Bazaar of the Department of Tourism-CAR.
The Ibagiw Crafts Design Competition this year features innovative and new designs in textile weaving, basket weaving, wood/bamboo carving, metal craft, and yarn craft. At the Mandeko Kito, artisans will get a chance to market their creations.
Exhibitions of contemporary art, traditional tattoo, and hand-woven textiles are also happening at different venues, as well as performance arts, which is another area that the city is known for.
Capacity-building activities are also in store for creative industries as well, through the Creative Fridays: Innovate to Elevate Series of the Department of Trade and Industry. This, coupled with the launching of the Creative Baguio website as an e-commerce platform, hopes to help boost the local creative industries in Baguio City.
For more details on the line-up of activities for the Creative City Festival, please check the Baguio Creative City Facebook page.