Tanauan, Leyte -- After the Lenten Week that ended with the Resurrection of the Lord on Easter Sunday, people in the municipalities of Leyte usually flock at the beaches together with families and friends.

In Tanauan, Leyte, hundreds of people from nearby municipalities flocked Sunday, at the Tanauan Beaches particularly at the Skimboarding Area at Bantay Dagat, where a group of young people who called their group as SPAWN organized the Kabanhaw (Resurrection) Festival which features the Mayor's Cup Skimboarding Open Competition and Beach Volleyball Competition.

Mayor Roque Tiu welcomed the competitors and guests; and formally opened the competitions at 1:00 o'clock in the afternoon. Mayor Tiu said that since the National Skimboarding Competition was held in December, he was expecting that only the locals will participate this Easter Sunday.

Mayor Tiu, however, expressed appreciation to the participants from other municipalities and provinces as far as Iligan City and Cebu, and a rider from Georgia USA.

The competitors from other places said they know that there is a Skimboarding competition in Tanauan every Easter Sunday and so they came as early as Holy Tuesday. In fact they spent the Holy Week in Tanauan.

American and German nationals were observed to be among the crowd during the opening program. Also observed were balikbayans from abroad and from other places in the country who came home for the Holy Week. Photojournalists from Mindanao were also noted at the area.

The Beach Volleyball for women was the first event in the Kabanhaw Festival. The Organizers revealed that the Skimboarding Competition will continue up to the evening since there is good lighting in the area provided by the province of Leyte through Governor Carlos Jericho Petilla.