In preparation for the Grand Ammungan Festival 2026, the Provincial Tourism and Culture Office (PTCO) enacted for its second year the three-day Festival Choreography and Management Training, from March 10 to March 12, 2026, at the Ammungan Hall of the Capitol Compound, Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya. Municipal tourism officers, festival street dance choreographers, and student dancers were invited to learn dance theory, trends in festival street dance, practical folk dance, among other topics.
According to Provincial Tourism Officer Marichelle O. Costales, the rationale behind the continuing training is to prepare the festival choreographers and dancers in truly showcasing a reflection of the individual cultures within Nueva Vizcaya. Ms. Costales expressed PTCO’s gratitude and eagerness to reach out to more tourism stakeholders and investment not only in festival choreography, but cultural development.
As resource speaker, the PTCO reinvited Mr. John Christopher B. Mesana, who had served previously in the first iteration of the training and as judge for the “Teddek, Paddek, ken Samiweng” Street Dance competition in the GAF 2025. As such, Mr. Mesana lectured not only on basic and intermediate concepts in festivals and street dance, the cultural concerns behind festivals, the basic psychology in dance, common elements in dance, but also the current winning trends in street dance and festivals, issues observed in last year’s competition, and new steps forward.
The first day involved lectures in the former topics addressed to the municipal tourism officers, choreographers, and educators from all fifteen municipalities of the province. Mr. Mesana emphasized that the intention was not only to educate on sustainable festival management practices, but also to aid in creating ‘culturally grounded yet development-driven’ celebrations in the province.
The second day included not only similar lectures in this vein, but practical instruction and the construction of a choreographed dance with all the students dancers present. According to Mr. Mesana, the erstwhile influences of neighboring provinces and the Ilocano diaspora inspired him to teach and choreograph the Valse Vieja, a colonial folk dance originating from Pangasinan. The third day saw the refinement and culminating performance not only of the Valse Vieja, but a combined street dance showcase of the different municipalities.
BM Eunice Galima-Gambol, Chairperson for the Committee on Culture and the Arts, commended the students and the guest speaker, exhorting them to continue to love themselves and their culture, as well as reiterating Governor Atty. Jose V. Gambito’s commitment and support to tourism and culture in the province.
With the Grand Ammungan Festival 2026 only two months out, preparations such as the Festival Choreography and Management Training are vital to the creation of the unifying celebratory event for the whole of Nueva Vizcaya. /igmb
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