Paynauen Festival

I see to it that I am in Iba, Zambales during the last week of April of every year. The reason - to be a part of the Paynauen Festival.

Paynauen Festival has become an annual event in Iba starting five years ago. It is a festival of street dancing, Ginoo at Mutya ng Paynauen, local foods, sand castle building, kite flying, "duyan parade", carabao racing, boat racing, parades, exhibits and plenty of other merry making activities. Tourists and vacationists troop to Iba not only to enjoy the pristine beaches, fresh seafoods and the internationally-known mangoes, but to be a part of the Paynauen merry-making.

Paynauen is Sambal word that was derived from "painawawan". This word in Pilipino is equivalent to "pahingahan" that means a place for resting. During the Spanish era, Iba was the R&R of the conquistadores whose camp was located in the now Bancal in Botolan. Crossing the river that separated Iba and Botolan, the Spaniards enjoyed the fruits and food in Iba. The place was forested and full of flora and fauna where the Kastilas enjoyed hunting.

Paynauen festival was a concoction of Ibanians, prominent of these were Ofelia Ignacio Huang, the Chair for the Iba Tourism Council, Mr. Benjamin Farin Jr., a civic-minded Ibanian, Ms. Norma Miclat-Abad formerly with DECS and Ruth Angeles-Hurtado. The festival is also supported by the citizens of Iba and its political leadership.

A hammock or "duyan" is the symbol of Paynauen. It represents leisurely resting. In the Duyan Parade, beauties fill the different designs of hammock that are made of various local materials like abaca rope, rattan, wicker and wood.

In the beach, sand castle building is one of the very popular event. Participated by many Ibanians as well as visitors, contestants show their creativity and imagination. From sand castles, human shapes, landscapes to animal sand sculpting, the contestants use technical ingenuinity to create sand forms as big as 6 square meters.