Nueva Vizcaya has opened the 15th Grand Ammungan Festival to celebrate the province’s 185th founding anniversary.
Bannered by the theme of unity and sustainable development, the festival celebrates the province’s colorful cultural diversity and unprecedented economic progress it has experienced in recent years.
The festival kicked off with the ribbon-cutting ceremony of the Nueva Vizcaya Travel and Tourism Expo by Department of Tourism Undersecretary Ferdinand Jumapao who represented DOT Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco.
Now on its third year, the expo features booths from the 15 municipalities, each showcasing their unique fiestas or festivals, tourist attractions, agricultural produce, food products, crafts and souvenir items. Each town will have a 30-minute presentation on May 22–23 to showcase its music and dance.
According to Grand Ammungan Festival director general and former governor Ruth Padilla, the festivity is a distinct gathering in thanksgiving of 18 indigenous peoples and ethnolinguistic groups who have made the province their home.
Among these groups are the Ifugao, Gaddang, Isinai, Dumagat, Kalanguya, and Bugkalot tribes which have made the province a cultural potpourri.
Ammungan is a tribal Gaddang word which means coming together or gathering, and is similar to the Ilocano term “ummungan” which has the same meaning.
Meanwhile, Nueva Vizcaya governor Jose Gambito said that the festival is also an avenue to put the spotlight on its naturally vibrant tourist attractions, such as waterfalls, farm resorts, expansive caves, heritage churches, mountain vantage points, lush eco-parks, and mouth-watering dishes.
Adding excitement to this year’s edition is a new event named “Bailes Y Canciones”, which will feature a show choir and creative dance competitions for college students.
Festival goers can also look forward to the second edition of the revamped “Mangan! Kulinarya Vizcaya Competition,” which will have three categories—Payabangan sa Kayabang, Viz Baker, and Kapetirya de Vizcaya.
To be crowned with the new Camia Crown on May 23 is the Saniata ti Nueva Vizcaya which will select the province’s ambassadors of goodwill and tourism.
The celebration climaxes on May 24, with the sought-after street dancing competition to mark the Province’s founding day, followed by the Paramotor Festival which will take lucky audience participants to see Nueva Vizcaya from up above.