Kaamulan Festival (Bukidnon)

The KAAMULAN FESTIVAL is an annual fiesta of

the 7 Ethnic Tribes in Bukidnon-
the Matigsalug, Tigwahanun, Higaunun, Umayamnu
n, Manobo, Bukidnon, and Talaandig. It is a cultural
celebration of the tribes’ legendary stories, ancient
rituals, ethnic music, and traditional dances.

Kaamulan” is from the Binukid word “amul” which

means “to gather”. It is a gathering of Bukidnon
tribes people for a purpose.

Kaamulan started as a festival on May 15, 1974,

during the fiesta celebration of the then
municipality of Malaybalay. A town official thought
of inviting some indigenous people to town and
made them perform a few dance steps at Plaza
Rizal to enliven the fiesta celebration.

The fiesta is usually held in March, but it was moved

to September this year to coincide with the
Centennial Celebration of the province of Bukidnon,
which was founded on September 1, 1914.

The culmination of the Kaamulan festival is the

street dancing and float parade by the 22 towns of
Bukidnon. 
The event starts with a Pamuhat cleansing ritual at
around 6am. One of the unique things about this
fiesta is that actual tribe members go on parade with
the civic community to showcase their culture and
traditions. The spears and the shields are replicated
based on actual weapons from the tribes.
The music is performed live beautifully using authentic instruments…
and stomping of feet.
A full tribal band performs live music on top of the
large float. It’s not your usual Drum & Lyre music.