BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya—Local products of this province take centerstage this month as part of Nueva Vizcaya’s annual founding anniversary celebration, dubbed the 9th Grand Ammungan Festival.
“We will be showing our local products, which are proudly made and produced in Nueva Vizcaya, so we can help our local entrepreneurs in terms of promotion and sales,” said Maybelle Blossom Dumlao-Sevillena, provincial administrator and director-general of the festivities.
She said the concept was culled from the theme for this year’s 9th Grand Ammungan Festival, which is “Sangsangkamaysa a rambakan, Naisangsangayan a gapuanan” (“Celebrate in unity our great achievements” in English).
“Ammungan, which means gathering or festival, runs from May 13 to 24 every year here.
Sevillena said some of the products to be showcased during the festival are furniture and handicrafts, processed natural food and beverages, fruits and vegetables, aquaculture products, and citrus varieties, among others.
The 15 towns of the province will also participate in the One Town, One Product showcase where their “identity” will be promoted.
These products will be showcased with the conduct of the “Partuat ken Patanor” (Vizcaya’s best exhibits) and Agro-Industrial Fair 2017 at the provincial capitol in this town.
“This will further promote the identity of our province, our villagers, products and their traditional practices as a unified Novo Vizcayano,” Sevillena said.
The festival will also offer free medical, surgical and dental services, a job fair, haircuts, blood pressure check-up, and Philippine Regulation Commission licensing, among others.
It will also draw unity, camaraderie and support among various tribes with a thanksgiving Mass, and special presentations for cultural affairs, senior citizens, children, and overseas Filipino workers or “balikbayan.”
“This will further strengthen our relationship with one another as truly Novo Vizcayanos, wherever we are and whoever we are,” Sevillena said.
She said the cultural day, which serves as one of the important activities of the Ammungan Festival, will also showcase the native dances, songs and traditional practices of the upland and lowland indigenous people in the province, such as the Isinai, Gaddang, Ifugao, Bugkalot, Kankanaey, Kalanguya, Ibaloi, Iwak, Ayangan and Tuwali tribes, among others.
On May 24, the province’s 15 towns will join in the grand parade, along with the national and local government agencies and their respective entries to the beauty pageant called “Search for the Saniata ti Nueva Vizcaya 2017” on board a “kuliglig” or farm truck.
This year’s festival will also feature the first Ilocano Literature competition open to all ages, which will focus on essay, poetry writing, extemporaneous speech, and poetic debate contests.
Some of the activities and programs during the festival will be held at the PLGU Convention Center in Bayombong town.
A musical pyrotechnics display will also be conducted on May 24 at the provincial capitol to wrap up the annual festivities.
May 24, a non-working holiday in Nueva Vizcaya, marks the historical establishment of its civil government by Spanish colonizers hundreds of years ago.
