When Scars Become Art: Rebirthing the Historical Ashes as Tourism Asset of Davao De Oro through Indayog Sa Kahimunan Festival among Laak National High School Grand Champion Performers

The engagement of youth creative teams in municipal cultural festivals serves as a vital mechanism for communities to articulate their collective identity, safeguard intangible heritage, and advance local destination branding. Accordingly, the student performers of the SalinLahi Performing Arts Guild from Laak National High School represented the province of Davao de Oro and secured the grand championship in the Indayog sa Kadalanan during the Kahimunan Festival. Grounded in a descriptive phenomenological framework, this study investigated the lived experiences, creative methodologies, cultural representations, and perceived tourism contributions of the student performers as they translated historical adversity into a competitive performing art. Utilizing purposive sampling, ten student-performers who directly participated in the winning contingent were selected, and data were gathered through in-depth, semi-structured interviews analyzed via reflexive thematic analysis. The findings revealed that the participants' narratives were encapsulated across several core domains: conceptualizing local historical struggles—such as natural disasters, socio-environmental disruptions, and community tragedies—through "Echoes of the Past," executing narrative progression via "Symbolic Choreography," and maintaining ethical standards through "Reverential Portrayal". Furthermore, the students navigated rigorous physiological and psychological demands alongside resource constraints by embodying the core Filipino value of "Bayanihan". Winning the grand championship profoundly altered their self-perception, cultivating a strengthened cultural identity wherein they embraced their roles as active "Stewards of Culture" who recognized that "A Story Told is a Win". Moreover, the performers evaluated their championship showcase as a catalyst that enhanced Laak's tourism appeal and presented the Kahimunan Festival in a renewed light as a platform for meaningful narrative expression. Ultimately, the study underscores that the journey from historical trauma to a recognized tourism asset is a multifaceted endeavor requiring institutional support, rigorous cultural archiving, historical research, youth empowerment, and sustainable tourism monitoring.