SESSION WARS

May 6, 2023 Opinion

The closure of Session Road during Sundays became a respite for many, welcoming the leisure of
a walk at the main thoroughfares and the freedom of movement, of the once a week offering. But as residents and visitors basked in the glory of a “closed to vehicle” Session Road, many also became
enterprising, cashing in on the phenomena, welcoming the economics of it all. First it was for the vendors who were given a chance to sell their wares at the two-lane road for most of the day.

It began with the rabbit meat craze in the pandemic, where many invested on breeding and selling the furry cuties on the streets of Session on Sundays, there were stalls with bugs bunnies for sale, but more had the animals butchered and sold as meat products. Beside the cute animal cages, were the meat products sold giving one a clear before and after picture of what will become of the bunny rabbits after the butchering. It was enough to give a small child a nightmare if you ask me.

Vegetable and fruit vendors were allowed to set up shop, making Sundays a day of profit and the unofficial market day of the Mountain city, making it easy for locals to get produce, interact with shoppers and enjoy the pedestrianization of the busiest street in the city. Local shops were
handpicked for permission to sell and the handful of food and drink shops which lined the American inspired road gave a nostalgic feel for locals who remember the early staging of the Baguio Flower Festival, where a few streetside stalls offered their products.

Sundays were like this, until the vendors were eased out, no more selling. The street is also lined with buskers who offer their talent. Busking has been flourishing in the city and is mainly defined as a street performance / act of performing in public places for gratuities. Music pipes in the air
every Sunday with buskers at each station waiting for an audience and their kind offerings.
The pavement is adorned with chalk art, drawn by small and big hands alike. Children and adults have indulged in the Sunday drawing activity, creating a myriad of images.

Now let’s go to our Kpop, Pinoy Mythology, fairies, demons, actors and actresses dressed for cosplay walk about the road giving passersby a sight to behold. Cosplay is defined as “Stands for costume play and is a performance art where the participants who are called ‘cosplayers’ generally wave fashion accessories and costumes in order to represent a specific character. Cosplayers even interact to create a subculture and it is a term that can also be used to mean role playing. A clever combination of the words “costume” and “play,” cosplay is the act of dressing up as a character or
concept from (usually) fictional works.”

Mascots like our mickey and Minnie mouse, robots, cartoon characters are also present in the road, making the Sunday at Session a small patch of Disneyland. A mascot defined as “a character that
represents the symbolic values of a brand. It represents a figure that is created to engage the audience’s attention by giving them something to relate” So, it seems that everything was perfect, all in its proper place with everyone happy. No, of course not. Now, when and why did the war start? A reliable source told me the bickering started with the cosplayers and the mascots and the mascots to their co mascots then the cosplayers to their co cosplayers.

With everyone jostling for space and the right to perform or “project,” (the act of showing off your looks), with the discontent of not getting a permit to be a part of the Sunday habit, leaving some
with a bad taste in the mouth. The question of talent was raised by one, ruing the fact that some performers just dress up and stand to get their picture taken as opposed to the singers, dancers and poetry readers. So, the war ensued and the talks persisted, the discontent set in the hearts and so what happened? Now Session Road Sundays is closed.