Mountains, Philippines – Last time I went home Sagada Town Festa, the world was still analog.

It was the late 1990s. I was a college student. Poblacion was swollen with people and noise. We attended volleyball and softball games. My younger brothers ran dashes and sack races. Traveling from fiesta to fiesta, peddlers lined the streets selling toys, kitchen utensils, halo-halos of marshmallows and macaroni, and towers of cotton candy that melted into your hands and became sticky. I didn’t need a phone to meet someone. You just showed up. Everyone did.

After that, I became an adult. The years have grown. Festa changed its name and grew into something bigger. And almost 30 years later, I returned to Sagada just as the town held its 13th Etag Festival. It wasn’t just a homecoming for me, it was also a reminder of how communities reinvent their celebrations without losing their core.

From January 30th to February 2nd, Sagada will once again gather around its most famous cultural symbol. e-tagsmoking and curing pork is as much a ritual as it is a food. Institutionalized by the Sangguniang Bayan in 2011, the festival promotes a feast deeply rooted in Igorot life. While it is served at births, weddings, wakes, and communal feasts, it also serves as a platform to preserve culture and support livelihoods.

This year’s theme is “Valorizing Culture: The Key to Unity and Progress,” positioning the festival as both a celebration and a statement.

A memorable festival

For first-time visitors, Sagada is often introduced. cavehanging coffins, and mountain air. But during the Etag Festival, the town tells its story in its own words.

During the opening parade, the Poblacion was transformed into a colorful, moving exhibit. For the first time, community-built floats ran through the streets. These are made from recycled and natural materials, highlighting creativity and environmental awareness alongside the festival’s theme. The familiar sound of a gong set the procession to an ancient rhythm as students marched and elders looked on.

Local producers took center stage at the agricultural industry fair. While Etag was the featured tourist attraction, it shared the spotlight with Sagada coffee, wild honey, musk sugar, and highland vegetables. This is a reminder that a mountain town’s culture and economy are inseparable.

Guest speaker Cecile Basawil, Deputy Regional Operations Director of the Sagada City Cordillera Social Welfare and Development Department, said that he structured the festival through the acronym “ETAG” (Enduring Tradition, Unity in Faith, Moving Forward with Purpose, and Gratitude), which resonated with the audience.

“Culture is not a relic of the past, it is a living foundation,” Basawil said. “If we are to unite and progress, we must first cherish our own culture.”

She explained: e-tag It is not just preserved meat, but a preserved memory, a symbol of the life cycle of a community, a shared story told through chants and gatherings. Her message is a blend of indigenous philosophy and everyday lessons. InayanSagada’s moral compass and the town’s guiding phrase “Ipeyas nan gawis” – share the good stuff.

What has changed and what has stayed the same?

Mayor Felicito Duras acknowledged that Sagada, like other parts of the world, has changed.

“make your life more funNothing is certain except change.

Once Fiesta was the only market for rare goods, but now stores, Saturday markets and online platforms meet everyday needs. Families have more commitments, more events, more direction, pulling them apart.

But the mayor pointed to what endures: faith, indigenous values, song, dance and a stubborn sense of togetherness that refuses to go away.

“E-tag “That in itself is a powerful symbol of this continuity,” he says, and from the hearths of our ancestors to our modern dinner tables, it brings resilience and community. e-tagTo all manufacturers and small and medium-sized businesses, “Buy plenty and eat to your heart’s content.”

Governor John Likugan, who delivered Governor Bonifacio Lakwasan Jr.’s message, echoed this theme, calling Sagada “a place where the past is not just remembered but lived, and where tradition serves as a compass for the future.”

Homecoming measured in people

Beyond the speeches and floats, the festival felt intimate in a quiet way. Children running between the stalls, teenagers pretending not to be excited about the contest candidates, and elders sitting in a circle of patients. The Sagada couple’s search, fairs, children’s games and communal feasts connected generations over the same weekend.

The Fiesta I remember was louder, smaller, and simpler. The festivals I have returned to are bigger, more organized, and consciously preserve what makes Sagada Sagada. However, the emotional structure remains unchanged. People still come home.

In a mountain town, continuity is not the absence of change. It is a decision to carry on old meanings, to smoke meat as our ancestors did, to parade through the streets where our grandparents once stood, and to continue to gather around the same center no matter how the edges evolve.

The Sagada Fiesta, now the Etag Festival, is, and still is, the town rehearsing its memories out loud. – Rappler.com