LAGAWE, Ifugao, Monday March 21 --The Local Government Unit here will celebrate this year’s town fiesta dubbed as “Kulpi ad Lagawe” on April 27-29, 2011 with Senator Bong Revilla as invited guest.

“Kulpi” is a segment of the rice planting festival of the Ifugaos. This practice starts after the planting phase to implore the aid of the gods and spirits for the protection of the rice crops against diseases and pestilence thus ensuring a good harvest.

The planting season usually ensues after the new moon appears in the month of January called “kilingna” (little bird). It has been told that the month of January is called kilingna because the water power which is harnessed to wash away the slide debris through the flume or inclined channel “gohang” in the rice fields has much diminished in strength and so the channel has to be closed to prepare the field for planting.

By the end of February, which is “Litongna”, the last field in the village shall have been planted and the “kulpi or rice planting festival commences. The festival proceeds when the owners of rice fields have prepared rice wine for the occasion.

“I encourage everyone to participate and cooperate for the success of our festival, for indeed this is a time for us to look back and see the good things we have achieved as a growing community,” Mayor Ceasario Cabbigat said.

Cabbigat further disclosed that this is a also an occasion when "we pause for a while with our hectic schedule of daily works and enjoy our kulpi for it is an occasion for us to be happy and give thanks to our creator for the abundant blessings we received as people of this municipality".

The three day activity will start with a thanksgiving mass then followed by cultural parade, rice wine contest, program, native dance contest, agro-trade fair, ethnic games/sports activities boxing tournament interfaith concert and creative street dancing. *(PIA-CAR, Ifugao)