Ettam Ngana ta Bambanti: Isabela Celebrates their 2024 Festival of Scarecrows
The Queen Province of the North Celebrates the Bambanti Festival 2024
“ Ettam ngana… ta Bambanti! Ettam ngana… ta Isabela! ” goes the zestful jingle that thundered for days at the expansive complex of Isabela Provincial Capitol, the center for the activities of the annual Bambanti Festival.
Bambanti 2024
This year’s theme, an Ibanag phrase, “ Ettam Ngana ta Isabela! ” (Let’s Go to Isabela!), beckons visitors to experience the rich culture, arts and heritage, as well as the diverse agricultural bounties and tourism jewels that Isabela has to offer. The week-long celebration immersed both Isabeleños and guests through music festivals, fun fitness activities, different competitions and cultural exhibits that showcased the treasures of the so-called “Queen Province of the North.”
The Land of Bambanti
In the capital Ilagan, there’s the Mammangi Festival that fetes the abundance of corn and the city’s corn farmers. The same goes for the towns of San Mateo for its balatong or munggo (mung beans), San Pablo for its baka (cattle), Benito Soliven for its sabunganay (banana blossom) and Aurora for its calamansi harvest. Each of Isabela’s three cities and 34 municipalities holds its own yearly agricultural and/or cultural celebration, but the Bambanti Festival is the grandest, celebrated by the entire province. Isabela’s “mother of all festivals” is a tribute to the scarecrow, or what they call “ bambanti ” in Ilocano.
Entrance to the Bambanti Village
“ Why the scarecrow? ,” asked veteran writer Amadis Ma. Guerrero during the press conference held in Cauayan City, noting that “scaring off” or the scarecrow itself carries a negative connotation.
The human-like figures, usually made out of hay, straw and wooden poles, and dressed in layers of colorful yet tattered hand-me-downs, are a common sight amidst the vast fertile fields of Isabela—the Philippines’ second largest province in terms of land area, whose economy relies largely on agriculture.
These scarecrows, strange-looking and often depicted in pop culture as horrifying objects, repel birds and other pests that prey upon crops, thus considered the farmers’ allies in ensuring a bountiful harvest. They are the watch guards or protectors of Isabela’s agricultural lands, the “sentinels of the fields” as the Isabela Tourism Office describes them in their newly-launched coffee table book.
Touted as the country’s corn and munggo capital and among its top producers of palay (rice), the scarecrows have become a symbol of Isabela’s economic presence as an agricultural and agri-industrial hub. The inanimate bambanti, drenched in sun and rain while guarding the crops, also signifies Isabeleño resiliency, resourcefulness and perseverance.
Bambanti Village, Giant Scarecrows
The day after we braved the grueling 10-hour drive to Isabela for the four-day festival coverage, we visited the Bambanti Village set up in front of the capitol building.
Divilacan’s agri-booth and giant bambanti
The village is a makeshift gated avenue, which comprised 30 contiguous agri-ecotourism booths—platforms that exhibited the history, culture, traditions, arts, agrarian and aquatic products, and the local delicacies of every participating city and municipality, which booth visitors could sample and buy as pasalubong .
The kiosks also featured each town’s festivals and flexed every recognition that the townsfolk had garnered from the past festivals and different LGU award-giving bodies. Beside each agri-booth stood the town’s Giant Bambanti.
Scarecrows of San Isidro municipality at the Bambanti Village
During the festival, the beloved scarecrows turn into gigantic pieces of art. The booths and giant bambantis were conceptualized to display the towns’ distinct identities and were painstakingly built and decorated using organic, biodegradable materials native to each locality.
For instance, the coastal municipality of Maconacon had its booth and mermaid-shaped bambanti covered in different types of seashells. The neighboring Divilacan, which nestles between the Northern Sierra Madre and the Pacific Ocean, used barks of trees, white seashells and fine sands to present its lush forests and white sand beaches. Because of its Bato Art Festival, Luna town’s exhibits were copiously peppered with smooth pebbles.
Mermaid shaped Giant Bambanti of the Municipality of Jones.
Cabatuan mosaicked theirs with 1,000 empty pieces of bao ng niyog (coconut shell), coconut being the main ingredient of different kakanin (sticky rice) delicacies that the municipality is known for. San Pablo, for its great deal of cattle ranches, had their booth cow-shaped and their scarecrow depicting a cowboy.
Naguilian Town’s giant Bambanti amde of Binallay, corn, and casava.
In the end, Ilagan’s giant bambanti and Echague’s agri-ecotourism booth won in Category A. In Category B, both Cordon’s booth and bambanti emerged as the winners. For this and other festival contests, the cities and municipalities were categorized according to their economic status.
San Mariano Municipality’s agri booth and giant Bambanti
The Agri-ecotourism Exhibit and Sale run for the entire duration of the festival. Not only did it display what each town offers its guests, it also generated income and showcased the Isabeleño ingenuity.
Queen Isabela 2024
Later that day, the evening dazzled with the beauties of the 28 candidates for the Queen Isabela 2024.
Founded on May 1, 1856, Isabela province was named after Queen Isabella II of Spain, who decreed its creation by carving out territories from Cagayan and Nueva Vizcaya. The pageant’s title dropped the usual “Miss” to embody Isabela’s moniker and the origin of its name, according to Nilo Agustin, the festival’s creative director.
Queen Isabela 2024 candidates in their evening dresses
The Grand Coronation Night was held at the amphitheater-like Queen Isabela Park located in front of the capitol grounds. TV actors DJ Durano and Markki Stroem hosted the glamorous event alongside model and Miss Philippines Earth 2013 title holder, Angelee Delos Reyes.
The candidates sashayed in their swimwear following the town-inspired cultural costumes and evening dress creations of world-class couturier, Albert Andrada, who was also among the esteemed judges, before they proceeded to the much-awaited Q&A portion.
Queen Isabela 2024 hosts Markki Stroem, Angelee delos Reyes and DJ Durano
Queen Isabela 2024’s Top 5 candidates (via Isabelo PIO)
