Cultural City

 

The "Heritage City," as Vigan is known, bursts into merry colors through its Binatbatan Festival, luring hordes of local and foreign tourists to its streets lined up with ancestral houses.

 The festival got its name from the Iloko term batbatin, or separating cotton balls from the seeds of the local fruit tree kapas sanglay. The cotton balls are then spun and used in weaving the abel, which Chinese merchants then residing in Ciudad Fernandina, the Vigan of old, exported and which was among the local products shipped during the galleon trade from the 15th to the 18th century. Abel products were showcased during the festival.

 Various events happened other than the street dancing, are traditional games, bankathon and fishing competition, carabao painting contest, boklan art contest, glass mosaic contest, gayem parade, Holy mass in honor of Apo Lakay, ramada games, dog show, santacruzan and, fun run and abel-iloco design and fashion competition, and abel–house décor set up judging.