Gabii sa Kabilin Features NCCA’s TAOID

In celebration of the National Heritage Month, the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), through its Subcommission on Cultural Heritage, launched the heritage conservation project “TAOID”. The project is a recognition and celebration of the different aspects of our national cultural heritage—our traditional art forms and practices, important cultural structures both movable and immovable, and other objects of national importance whether tangible or intangible.

With this year’s theme, “Weaving Our Stories, Threading Our Paths”, TAOID aimed at giving people “a glimpse of the legacies of the past and how it remains to shape the present and the future.”

Gabii sa Kabilin (GSK) or Night of Heritage, an annual event run by Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. and its partners for seven years now, is among the heritage events nationwide to be included in this year’s TAOID festival. Other Philippine festival highlights of TAOID include Rakanen Festival in Batanes, Tam-awan International Arts Festival in Baguio, Saluka Festival in Capul Island, Northern Samar, SARBAY Festival in Glan, Sarangani, and Say-am Festival in Pudtol, Apayao.

GSK is held every last Friday of May to celebrate the Philippines’ National Heritage Month and International Museum Day, which falls on May 18. This year’s GSK will be this Friday, May 31.

From three museums in its first run, GSK has expanded to 33 participating museums and heritage sites and 30 featured sites this year. In 2012 the Cebu City Council, through an ordinance, designated every last Friday of May as Gabii sa Kabilin.

From 6 p.m. to midnight, people visit museums and heritage sites and enjoy cultural shows, exhibits, children’s activities, contests, food fairs, and other activities.

To get to the participating sites, guests walk or ride buses and “tartanillas” (horse-drawn carriages).

The GSK ticket is as an admission ticket for all destinations, unlimited Gabii sa Kabilin-designated bus rides, and tartanilla trip within the city’s old district.

The ticket price is at P150.00 and admission is free for children aged seven and below. The tickets can be purchased and reserved in advance at any of the participating destinations.

The event, initiated by RAFI’s Culture & Heritage Unit, is made possible through the cooperation of participating museums and heritage sites, government agencies, local communities, and private organizations.

GSK is an adaptation of Germany’s Lange Nacht der Museen or Long Night of the Museums, which has become an anticipated event in more than 120 cities in Europe and South America. Cebu launched the first GSK in 2007 and has remained the only metropolis in the Asia-Pacific region to hold such an event.

For more information about Gabii sa Kabilin, please contact (032) 418-7234 loc. 703, or visit www.facebook.com/rafi.org.ph, or follow @rafiorgph on Twitter.

To reserve your tickets, you may also visit www.rafi.org.ph/event/2013-gsk-reserve. You may also download the Gabii sa Kabilin 2013 Guide at http://rafi.org.ph/publications/2013-gsk-guide/