BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL G. BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – The Panaad sa Negros Festival 2023 will open today at the Panaad Park and Stadium in Barangay Mansilingan.
A thanksgiving mass will be held at the park stage at 8 a.m.
At 8:30 a.m., the Best of Negros Products Trade Fair, Food Alley, Livelihood Village, Bamboo Negrense Village, and Animal Exhibit will start.
This will be followed by the blessing and inauguration of the Provincial Animal Learning Park and Hospital, and the ABANSE Negrense Integrated Laboratory.
By 10 a.m., themed pavilions of the 31 participating local government units will simultaneously open.
At 2 p.m., there will be a motorcade from the Provincial Capitol Grounds to the Panaad Park and Stadium.
The grand opening ceremony at the stadium at 4 p.m. will be hosted by television host Robi Domingo.
Among those confirmed to attend are senators Christopher Lawrence Go, Francis Tolentino and Ramon Bong Revilla Jr., and Department of Tourism secretary Christina Garcia Frasco.
A fireworks display at 7 p.m. and the “Panaad ni Gov” concert featuring December Avenue band will cap the opening day.
Preparations for the festivities were completed on Saturday, April 15, when the festival’s security committee held a send-off ceremony for the Task Force Group Panaad Festival led by the Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office.
The Panaad sa Negros Festival is dubbed the “Festival of all Festivals” in Negros Occidental. It went on hiatus for three years (2020, 2021 and 2022) due to the coronavirus pandemic./PN
