ANGELES CITY – The 26th Tigtigan Terakan Keng Dalan (TTKD), the biggest street festival, has set a new record with over 100,000 attendees on just the first night on October 26.
The City Information Office of Angeles City and TTKD’s official Facebook page declared: “We just broke last year’s record of highest number of attendees for day 1 and there is still day 2!”
Supt. Kenneth DG Vega, deputy city director for operation for the Angeles City police office, also confirmed the record. The second day also garnered the same number.
TTKD (Music and Dancing in the Street) is known as the biggest street party in the Philippines that covers a whole kilometer stretch on the commercial district of Balibago. It is usually dated on the last Friday and Saturday of October.
Various food and drinks stalls complemented the music, comedy, and culture performances at five different stages. The notable artists present are Gloc 9, Rocksteddy, Gracenote, Insekto Pares, SUD, Franco, and Chocolate Factory.
How TTKD came to be
Angeles City Mayor Edgardo Pamintuan founded the event in 1992 to commemorate the city’s triumph from the Mount Pinatubo devastation.
“After all the difficulties we have suffered… we have experienced because of Mt. Pinatubo, we thrived and now we are one of the most progressive cities in the Philippines”, he said.
Mount Pinatubo’s eruption is known as the second-largest in this century, affecting densely populated areas including Angeles City. On June 1991, over 60,000 people were immediately evacuated from the city; and the agricultural lands as well as other businesses were erased by tons of lahar.
So when the older generations say that Angeles City was formerly a ghost town – that is literally true.
During the opening ceremony, Vice Mayor Brian Nepomuceno accentuated that in the past, the city was regarded as erased from the map and that it will never rise again.
Pamintuan narrated how Tigtigan Terakan Keng Dalan came to be. He said that the remaining people of Angeles were sorrowful and getting back up again from the ashes felt hopeless. That was when he got the idea to gather them and invite bands for free to sing and dance in the empty MonTang street of Balibago.
To gather people in one place was a struggle then especially that most of the bridges connecting the barangays collapsed during the eruption. Despite the obstacles, they were able to come together and uplift their spirits through music and dancing.
Nepomuceno said TTKD played a vital role on the development of Angeles City, that is why the youth of today should not forget its true essence. It is to remember how the city emerged from the ashes and now, the new reason of the festival is to celebrate the progress of the city. It is now a first class, highly-urbanized city in Central Luzon. It was ranked 15th in the MoneySense survey on “Best Places to Live in the Philippines” last 2008. In 2015, it is also ranked 15th by The National Competitiveness Council (NCC) on the Most Competitive Cities in the Philippines based on its 2015 Cities and Municipalities Competitiveness Index (CMCI). Recently, Angeles City was ranked to be 5th most peaceful city in the Philippines according to the Philippine National Police.
Tigtigan Terakan Tumbukan Saksakan Keng Dalan
There has been a misconception about TTKD over the years. It is usually joked about as “Tigtigan Terakan Tumbukan Saksakan Keng Dalan” (Music, Dancing, Brawling, Stabbing in the Street) because of the incidents that occur on the street party. Because of this, some parents discourage the youth from attending the event.
To combat this generalization and to secure the safety of the attendees — the Angeles City Police Office (ACPO) together with auxiliary forces such as the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, Philippine Air Force, and volunteer security units deployed personnel in uniform and in civilian clothes on every perimeter to maintain the peace and order of the event. Moreover, security forces from the Army Reserve, Angeles City Risk Reduction and Management Office, Bureau of Fire Protection, and barangay peace and order action teams are assembled.
“There are no stabbings anymore, that incident happened seven or ten years ago. We can assure the people that TTKD is safe,” PO1 Dale Leonardo said.
TTKD 2018 was staged by JCI Angeles City Culiat in partnership with the Angeles City Tourism Office, Culture and Arts Council of Angeles.
Andrei Jascha Isais / AUF Intern