UP Diliman (UPD) celebrated the 75th year of the University’s transfer to the Diliman campus with Pagdiriwang ng Pamamalagi at Pamamahagi: Seremonya ng Pagbubukas ng UP Diliman Arts and Culture Festival 2024 (ACF 2024) at the Carillon Plaza.
In his message, UPD Chancellor Edgardo Carlo L. Vistan II said, “Pinagninilayan sa festival na ito ang ating mga pinagdaanang pagsubok. Sesentro rin ito sa ating mga tagumpay, pagpupunyagi, at pagsisikap na mapalago ang ating pamantasan. At kinalaunan, ay maging tagapagbunsod ito ng mga makabagong kaalaman, pananaw, at kamalayan.”
Through music, poetry, and movement, the two-hour program charted the University’s journey from its founding in 1908 in Manila, to its move to the Diliman campus, to its settlement in its new home and role as a “transformative force in the Philippine society.”
Organized by the UPD Office for Initiatives in Culture and the Arts (OICA) for the UPD Office of the Chancellor, the ceremony featured a poem by National Artist for Literature Virgilio S. Almario composed specifically for the occasion, titled Araw ng Karunungan.
Among the performers featured were UP Arco String Orchestra, cellist Celyn Ponce, the UP Cherubim and Seraphim, the UP Filipiniana Dance Group, Rody Vera, singer Jedidiah Retuta accompanied by pianist Michelle Nicolasora. Shofia Galagate, Ethan Roy Lakip, and Jacelle Isha Bonus read poems.
OICA Director Monica Fides Amada Santos said while the festival looks back at the narratives created in the past, it also highlights how UPD will navigate the many turbulent changes in the country.
“[D]ito nakadaong ang ikalawang bahagi ng ating tema. Ang pamamahagi kung saan sinisiyasat ang mga nagawa at gagawin pa ng ating unibersidad para mapabuti ang kalagayan ng ating mga kababayan, kasyudad at mga miyembro ng ating komunidad, kasama rito ang mga estudyante, guro, kawani, mga manininda, jeepney drivers, at residente na nasa loob ng mahal nating UP campus. Ipapamalas ang mga ito sa mga proyektong nakapailalim sa UPD Arts and Culture Festival 2024,” she said.
National Artist for Music Ramon P. Santos, National Artist for Literature Gemino H. Abad, and National Scientist Gavino J. Trono were also present at the event.
The opening ceremony is the first of a six-month series of events, some of which will be held in Manila. There will be exhibits, mini-concerts, art installations, a walking tour of the first academic buildings in UPD, a moon-viewing festival, two major academic conferences, and documentaries.
The opening of ACF 2024 was held on Feb. 29.
