Tacloban City—Locally made products and Christmas fashion will take center stage in a bazaar at Robinsons North in Abucay from Dec. 2 to 8.
The “Shopaholic Christmas Fashion and Food Bazaar” is a brainchild of Tacloban’s rising entrepreneurs “Happy Lane Events.”
“Tacloban City is Eastern Visayas’ gateway. It’s where the local scene of music, food and business continues to thrive that makes Leyteños proud of its resiliency as a region,” said Apple Anido Alagon, co-organizer and president of Rotary Club of Ormoc Bay.
“Because of this, Shopaholic’s Christmas Fashion and Food Bazaar will be showcasing Leyte’s carefully curated artisans, home cooks, homegrown entrepreneurs, local talents, culture and arts, small and medium enterprise to bring the festivities and the renewed spirit of its people this holiday season to the new booming mall in Tacloban,” Alagon said.
According to Alagon, the bazaar already has 20 group of exhibitors who will “bring the festivities and the renewed spirit of the people this holiday season.”
“As shopaholic ourselves, we carefully selected the exhibitors for the bazaar to ensure everyone’s taste for something different is met and a wide variety of options are available to entice a bigger and eager market,” said Alagon, who also owns of JO’s Milagrina restaurant.
Coke Young Go, co-organizer and proprietress of Tacloban trendy Chew Love restaurant, said the bazaar is about turning their passion into advocacy and business.
“We’re promoting young and vibrant entrepreneurs, local artisans and food industry on a very merry month,” said Go, who along with their partners April Cordero of VIP Salon and Spa and Jenny Ann Alvez of Highside, urged the public to support and buy local products.
“We are very happy that organizers from the Happy Lane Events noticed our native products and invited us to join the event. This encourages us to showcase and offer rare to find handcrafts made of reed grass locally known as tikog,” added Ricky Bautista, a journalist turned “banig” weaving-businessman from Basey, Samar.
One of their weekend highlights will be a fashion show from four different local brands on December 8.
These local brands are Lexi and Zabi, twinning outfits of mom and kids or dad and kids; Lemon Drops, trendy apparel; Sweet Chic Boutique; trendy apparel; and Colors and Shadows, hand painted bayongciagas as accessories.
“Banig” weavers will also perform on stage a live demonstration on how the mats and bags are being weaved on Dec. 7.
Other homegrown talents who will entertain the bazaar-goers include Leyte Idol Grand Champion Season 10 Anthony Peñalosa who will be serenading the crowd and Asia’s Got Talent Season 2 dance group Zero Gravity.
The organizers thanked Tacloban City Mayor Cristina Gonzales-Romualdez for supporting the event.