By Celeste Anna R. Formoso
PUERTO PRINCESA CITY, Feb. 23 (PNA) -– Palawan Governor Jose Alvarez has given the green light for the staging of this year’s “Baragatan Festival.”
Provincial Information Officer Gil Acosta Jr. said Thursday that “it is all systems go for the grand festivities best remembered for colourful parades, cultural extravaganzas, customer-friendly trade expos, food fair, outdoor concerts and a lot more.”
Acosta said Alvarez has appointed his chief of staff, Ceasar Sammy Magbanua, to head the executive committee that will plan the events and commence the preparations for the two-week long calendar of local spectacles.
The annual convergence festival shall feature among others, new and exciting events like the Tribal Olympics and the first Palawan Rodeo.
Local tunesmiths will surely delight in the launching of the Palawan Artist’s Popular Songwriting Competition that will share the limelight during the Grand Finals on June 20, 2017.
The festival’s staple activities such as the Search for Mutya ng Palawan, Tunog Palawan musical showcase, boxing tournament, street dancing competition, Caraenan food fair and local quiz bee beef up the list.
Baragatan Festival 2017 will kick off on June 9 through the conduct of a Holy Mass and blessing of LGU Booths, the unveiling of the Caraenan food fair, garden show, agro-trade fair and private trade fair, photo and art exhibits and the start of the nightly presentations at the Capitol grounds.
The “big events” will commence through a Grand Parade on June 16 followed by a spectacular fireworks exhibition and a big concert at the Cory Park.
The festival coined its title from the Cuyunon word “baragatan,” which means convergence of people from all points of the province.
