Quezon Province has just wrapped up the 7th edition of the Niyogyugan Festival, considered the most-awaited, most spectacular event of the province that highlights primarily its premier crop”•the coconut”•from Aug. 16-26.
Conceptualized in 2012 by current Quezon 3rd District Rep. Aleta Suarez, Niyogyugan is a playful combination of two Tagalog words, “niyog” which means coconut and “yugyugan” which means to beat, shake or dance.
As a single word, Niyogyugan means simply to celebrate the coconut tree, hence it is being played merrily to dance beats for the entire duration of the festivities held at the provincial capitol grounds and Perez Park here.
It all began simply as an agriculture and tourism fair, which Rep. Suarez and her son, then-Governor David “Jayjay” Suarez had thought to expand to a festival.
Since then, it has drawn huge crowds of visitors, tourists and sightseers yearly from all the 39 municipalities and two cities of the province, the neighboring provinces of Cavite, Laguna, Batangas and Rizal, and even from Metro Manila.
This year, incumbent Gov. Danilo Suarez introduced his innovations to the festival, which included the Tagayan sa Niyogyugan and Employees’ Night, and the more than 2,000 coconut seedlings placed as decoratives at the park.
The Tagayan sa Niyogyugan, also the brainchild of Rep. Aleta Suarez, was held for the first time in this year’s festival to revive the traditional ritual of drinking Lambanog, also called coconut vodka, which comes from the sap of the coconut flower.
The “tagayan” booth drew the participation of various provincial government officials and personalities of the province who want to partake of the riotous drinking celebration still being practiced in several remote barangays in Tayabas City, Sariaya, and other towns of the province.
The 11-day festivities kicked off with the live television coverage of ABS-CBN’s “Umagang Kay Ganda” and in the afternoon the formal opening and ribbon cutting which was attended by the Suarez family, Vice Governor Sam Nantes, several members of the Sangguniang Panglalawigan, provincial government officials, and several municipal and barangay officials.
On the second day, a dog show was held in the morning and in the evening was the Bb. Niyogyugan pre-pageant show. The Lucena Half Marathon event was held the next day, which drew more than 400 runners for 25 kms., 15 kms., 10 kms. and 5 kms. distance run from the capitol ground to Dalahican port area and back. In the evening of the same day, the Gabi ng Kulturang Quezonian was held, which showcased the diverse talents of the youth in song, dance and poetic performance.
On Aug. 19, provincial officials led by Gov. Suarez and representatives of different government and nongovernment agencies trooped to the monument of the late President Manuel L. Quezon for flower offering ceremonies. This was immediately followed by the Quezon Medalya ng Karangalan awards for the 7 outstanding citizens of the province held at Queen Margarette Court in Bgy. Domoit here.
The 16-man QMK awards committee led by Atty. Vicente Joyas chose for this year awardees Police Maj. Gen. Guillermo Lorenzo Eleazar for police service, Azucena Romulo for education, Edelissa Ramos for agriculture, Hamilton Villapando for education, Lloyd Luna for literature, Genoveva Verdaguer for education, and Joy dela Pena Talens for educational research.
A multitude of youth packed the Cocojam on Aug. 20 at the Convention Center featuring Sponge Cola and Itchyworms. The following evening, Aug. 21, the Bb. Niyogyugan coronation night was held.
On Aug. 22, Sen. Cynthia Villar was invited as guest of honor and speaker at the Araw ng Pamilyang Magsasaka, which saw the gathering of a huge number of farmers from all over the province at the Convention Center.
A movie of the late President Quezon was shown at the same venue in the morning the following day. More than 5,000 students from various high schools came to see Quezon’s another story of heroism about the hundreds of Jews he rescued from the death camps of German dictator Adolf Hitler before World War 2.
Movie heartthrobs Bela Padilla and RK Bagatsing graced the grand parade and street dance competition the following day. By evening on Sunday, another Cocojam featuring Aegis and Wacky Kiray was held with a jampacked audience at the Convention Center.
During the last day of the festival, awarding ceremonies was held for various competitions, such as the street dance and best floats during the grand parade. For the booth competition, which showcased the artistry, creativity and skills of Quezonians in every town, several LGUs were declared winners.
Consolation prizes of P100,000 were given for the rest of the competing booths that did not make it to the winners list.