NEGROS Occidental will be celebrating the Silver Anniversary of the “festival of all festivals” by conducting the “25th Panaad sa Negros Festival” from April 14 to 22, 2018 at the Panaad Park in Bacolod City.
Through this event, Negros Occidental governor Alfredo G. Marañon Jr. is inviting everyone, particularly agriculture enthusiasts and agripreneurs, to join and experience the best offers of the province’s 13 cities and 19 municipalities as they showcase their products, arts and culture, tourism destinations, trade and investments, livelihood skills, and even sports.
Panaad Festival has been adjudged by the Department of Tourism (DOT) and the Association of Tourism Officers of the Philippines (ATOP) as the “Best Tourism Event-Provincial Category” in the Philippines.
Exciting activities have been lined-up for this year’s edition of “Panaad” which include, among many others, organic agriculture fair, livestock and dairy fair, trade fair and exhibit, eco-garden show, and the unique bamboo village where various products made out of bamboo will be showcased.
These include the Livestock and Dairy Fair, Livelihood Opportunities through Mushroom Production, Swine Diseases Seminar, Goat Products and By-Products Utilization, Fish Value Adding (Bangus Deboning, Dilis Cooking, Fish Polvoron), Market Opportunities for Special Rice, Peking Duck Meat Processing, and the Farmers and Fisherfolk Congress.
These activities will be handled by the Provincial Veterinary Office (PVO) under Dr. Renante J. Decena.
Aside from the these activities, the province of Negros Occidental also has a wide array of beautiful scenic spots, parks, exotic resorts, mountains, caves and other natural wonders that offer potentials for private investment in tourism projects and related support services.
In 2017, the celebration of the 24th edition of Panaad sa Negros Festival posted a total sales of about P18.4 million or an increase of 72 percent from the previous year’s P10.7 million.
It was learned that the figures comprise the total generated income through local government unit(LGU) pavilions, organic agriculture fair, livestock and dairy fair, trade fair and exhibit, eco-garden show, bamboo village, and food kiosks.
Reports showed that the LGU pavilions generated the highest sales amounting to P9.98 million.
It is followed by different food kiosks with P3.79 million, eco-garden show with P1.71 million, organic village with P1.55 million, and livestock and dairy fair with P1.34 million.
On the other hand, Negros Occidental Tourism Department head Christine “Tin” Masinares says that the province has a wide array of beautiful scenic spots, parks, exotic resorts, mountains, caves and other natural wonders that offer potentials for private investment in tourism projects and related support services.
She says that Negros Occidental is a showcase of a sound environment management, with two protected forest areas (Mount Kanlaon and Northern Negros Natural Parks), and two marine reservations (Sagay Marine Reserve and Danjugan Island Marine Sanctuary) that are home to various species of flora, fauna and marine life.
“We will sustain existing programs, both of government and private sector partners, for conservation, rehabilitation and protection of the environment, especially our coastal areas, forest reserves, and major rivers and water bodies,” she says. (jaypeeyap@ymail.com/PN)
