Butanding Festival in Bicol
DONSOL, Sorsogon – Once a sleepy coastal village located at the northwestern tip of Sorsogon province, this town now eyes to be a first-class municipality, thanks to giant sea creatures that are now attracting hordes of foreign and local tourists who infuse millions of pesos into the local economy.
“Donsol was elevated to a third-class municipality in 2006 from a fourth-class status in 2003 and fifth-class in 1998, because of the butanding,” Mayor Salve Ocaya said, while giving tribute to the whale sharks, considered as the world’s largest fish that have found a home in the plankton-rich municipal waters of Donsol.
To welcome the return of the Butandings, which usually come in droves during this time of the year, and to officially signal the opening of another high adventure season of Butanding Interaction, the Butanding Arribada Festival is held every first week of March in Donsol town.
The peak Butanding Interaction season is March, April and May each year. This means, it is again open season for eager visitors or tourists to go Whale Shark/Butanding watching or, for the more intrepid and adventurous, who want to cavort with these biggest fishes in the world up close, swimming with the awesome, but gentle of Donsol.
A long fluvial procession just at the mouth of the long and winding Donsol River where a large pod of Butandings usually converge at this time of the year, highlights the Festival.
