People of Cagayan De Oro Celebrates Higalaay Festival 2022

Cagayan De Oro Higalaay Festival is a patronal celebration of St. Augustine the city’s patron saint annually celebrated on the 28th of August.

The civic-military float procession at the Higalaay Festival, according to officials, could draw a greater throng than it did in 2019, only months before the COVID-19 pandemic decimated the city.

For this year’s largest and finest street procession in the city, city hall shuttered sections of a dozen roads and streets in downtown Cagayan de Oro as well as an entire bridge. Around 4 am on Saturday, two hours before the morning procession, the city’s Roads and Traffic Administration (RTA) closed the whole Ysalina Bridge to vehicular traffic.

The bridge connects Carmen, the city’s most populous barrio, with the city’s center in CDO. It is located close to the city hall. Based on the report of Rappler, twelve streets and highways in the region regarded as the center of CDO were also restricted to traffic by the RTA.

Here are the official list of streets that were close during the said event:

• Luna Street
• Rodelsa Circle Road
• San Agustin Street
• Del Pilar Street
• Fernandez Street
• Tiano Brothers Street
• Rizal Street
• Hayes Street
• Gaerlan Street
• Velez Street
• Vamenta Boulevard
• Capistrano Street

The civic-military float parade for the Higalaay Festival, according to officials, could gather a greater throng than it did in August 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic decimated the city.

In 2019, authorities estimated that at least 10,000 people took part in the parade, while an additional 30,000 people merely observed it from the streets as brightly colored floats, marching bands, and street dancers wound their way along a 2.5-kilometer course.

For the first time in two years, Cagayan de Oro Mayor Rolando Uy permitted revelers to throng the streets and pack indoors for pre-fiesta celebrations. The report mentioned that due to the COVID-19 variations epidemic in 2020 and 2021, the same actions were merely livestreamed on social media platforms and broadcast on local cable television.

Councilor Joyleen Mercedes “Girlie” Balaba of Cagayan de Oro told Rappler that she was happy to see that the primarily Catholic city was once again honoring the yearly feast of Saint Augustine.

“We are slowly starting to live in the new normal. We can celebrate and enjoy the festivities while we keep the minimum public health standards in mind,” Balaba said in interview.

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