Visiting the Adivay Agri-Fair 2022: Introducing the 13 Municipalities of Benguet

Adivay is a yearly event in the Philippines where the 13 Municipalities of Benguet commemorate and celebrate their foundation anniversary as one province. Different events such as agri-fair, inter-municipality pageants, jobs fairs, etc., are organized for almost the whole month of November every year.

This Saturday (19 November 2022) I went to visit the Agri-fair. The Agri-fair is where each of the municipalities of Benguet would create their own booth where they can sell their products and showcase their municipality. They would also compete for the best booth and for the best landscape entry.

This year’s Adivay agri-fair has started and will run from the 16th of November and until the 25th.

I visited the venue early as I know that it will soon be flooded by hundreds of visitors and it would be difficult to take photos.

I initially thought of presenting the booths of the different municipalities alphabetically, but finally decided to present them based on my personal ranking.

1. Kabayan

The municipality of Kabayan has a nicely made two-level hut. From the outside, we can see smoke coming from the second level, a lot of carabao horns and gongs & animal hides too. While reviewing the photos, the blackened woods, the smoking hut, the animal hides and skulls made me remember and relate it a bit with the Vikings. 😊

From how it looks, it seems almost all of the materials that were used to make their hut are from an actual old hut. It is nicely made as if, it was just transported from its original location to its current place. In comparison, almost all of the other booths were made from new materials.

If I’m not mistaken, they have the most photo-taking spots too.

The second floor is the best that I’ve seen out of all the huts. There is a real kini-ing (smoked meat) and their dirty kitchen is lit. There are also indigenous backpacks that are made from soft bamboo (or Rattan) and from animal hides.

2. Tuba

I find the presentation of the municipality of Tubas as the second best. Their hut is not the best looking from the outside but they have a unique wall made of stones.

Their hut is two stories. The first level is where they sell their produce which is mostly the same as the other booths.

The second level, however, sells various items such as paintings, wood crafts (figurines), bamboo crafts (hanging lamps, tokens), and indigenous products. Arts and crafts that are mostly can only be found in their booth.

3. Bokod

The third on my ranking is the municipality of Bokod because of the landscape and the items that they sell. Speaking of their landscape, I would say that they have the best entry.

Their hut also has two levels and there are few carabao horns on the sides but not even close to that of Kabayan.

4. Kibungan

The municipality of Kibungan made is made of one level hut which is clearly intended just to sell their produce. Their booth is in my top 4 because of the number of photoshoot spots they put outside it. I would say, have the most number of photoshoot spots next to Kabayan

5. Mankayan

I placed the municipality of Mankayan on my top 5 because of what I found on the second level of their hut. It contains some of the old materials and items that we mainly used during the time of our grandparents.

6. Kapangan

Number 6 on my top list is the municipality of Kapangan because of the landscape and the view from the second level of the hut.

7. La Trinidad

I place the most populated and most popular municipality on my top 7 because of its colorful landscape.

8. Sablan

The municipality of Sablan has the most colorful statue representing their main produce – the pineapple. They also have a nice landscape.

9. Atok

The municipality of Atok has the most antiquated items. The only downside is it is prohibited to touch them because of the age of the items.

10. Bakun

The municipality of Bakun is similar to Kabayan in a way that they have a dirty kitchen situated on their second level. They also have real smoked meat, some wirewood, and dried rice plants on top. It depicts the typical setup of our ancestors’ common kitchen. The only lacking is fire and smoke.

11. Tublay

The municipality of Tublay has a nice landscape but they don’t have much to offer in terms of products aside from their produce.

12. Buguias

The municipality of Buguias has some carabao horns and a dirty kitchen too. Unfortunately, they painted most of the skulls which made them look fake. The dirty kitchen has nothing to smoke on top of it and it is not lit.

13. Itogon

The municipality of Itogon has a nice landscape too. However, the other municipalities have much better things to offer to the spectators/visitors.

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Closing Thoughts:

I presented and ranked the different booths based on my personal preference. The actual winning booths will be judged and announced on the 25 of November.

The duration of this agri-fair is only 10 days and we hope for an extension considering the effort of each municipality in building their booths.

I took hundreds of rare photos but have to limit it. Though, it's still a lot. But I hope that you enjoyed them and you will have an idea of our Igorot culture. 😊

Again, thank you for taking your valuable time reading and viewing my post.

Have a great day ahead. 🙂

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All photos in this post is taken by me and a few from strangers that I've asked a favor. 😉

Emojis used on the photos are taken from the Figma community.