Bangenge Festival 2013

Bangenge Festival is a parade featuring giant mascots held in Cavite City every mid December. 

Long time ago its been a tradition of children in the city to go caroling with a paper mascot dancing at your doorstep. The mascots are made from large fruit/vegetable baskets usually just thrown in the public market and designed into popular characters. A basket is pasted with newspapers using cooked gawgaw paste then painted with leftover paints. 

Over the years this tradition was turned into an annual Christmas parade by the city government wherein the biggest city public highschool - Cavite National Highschool sections where made to compete with each other and make out the best bangenge they can make after which it is being paraded together with the kunehos and parols. In recent years the bangenge contest also had a category for barangay levels.

The "kuneho" wherein a rabbit made of japanese white paper and wires with light inside (during the yester years its candle) is placed in a cart and pulled is another long time tradition of the city. In the yearly Christmas parade  the lower grades are the ones who usually pulls their kuneho and the higher grades are task with the parols usually made of scrap materials.   

The only thing not so nice about this yearly parade is it is too crowded with "stage mothers" especially by those of the 3 biggest public elementary school that you can't barely see the children since the mothers and cohorts occupied the entire outer lane walking side by side. If only schools are organized like the discipline showcased by Porta Vaga Elementary School this parade could have been better. A big salute to the teachers of PVES for having the most organized lane and without stage mothers on the side.  

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