Bottled ※ Brain: Alunan Avenue during T'nalak 2026

My aunts and uncles and my cousin Don from Banga joined me to see the bahay kubo displays. Cars and tricycles inched their way through Judge Alba Street; the traffic flow looked like Metro Manila side roads on good days. We walked from the house to Alunan Avenue, which had been closed to motor vehicles for a week. Auntie Net was excited: at least she could reach her target her daily step count.

After going through routine security check, where military personnel checked bags for weapons, we joined the growing throng of people. The street was alive and joyful.

T'nalak Festival wasn't a big deal then. It was a simple affair when I was in high school: some street dancing, then a beauty pageant (where two of my classmates won, if I'm not mistaken), and store displays. It is certainly quite the big deal now—a proper festival where people work their schedules around the carefully curated events. Some people living abroad go home to South Cotabato to join the celebrations.

Friends from high school, or from work, or, like me, family members, meet up, finding time to listen, eat, and observe. Everyone accepts the fact of life slowing down during one week in July.

My favorite is the bahay kubo display in front of the Provincial Capitol. At night the Philippine traditional houses, one for each town, become jewels of light and artistry.

Banga. Of course, Aunties Net and Bebet had to get their pictures!