TRIBUTE | Street dancers in colorful costumes sway to the beat of the music on the main thoroughfares of Lucena City in Quezon province at the end of the “Niyogyugan Festival” on Saturday. The festival pays tribute to the coconut farming industry in the province. (Photo from the Quezon Provincial Tourism Office)
LUCENA CITY, Quezon, Philippines — The popular “Niyogyugan Festival” in Quezon province ended in this capital city on Saturday, after 11 days of celebration, with a parade of 26 colorful floats and street dancers that honored the humble coconut.
Local residents and spectators, some of them out-of-town visitors brought in by tourist buses, filled both sides of Quezon Avenue to watch the parade of 27 groups of street dancers in colorful costumes and 26 floats, each of which showcasing the rich cultural heritage and tourist spots of their respective locality.
After the parade, the street dancers engaged in a showdown at the Quezon National High School campus that lasted until midnight.
The festival opened on Aug 9, with Gov. Angelina Tan welcoming the guests in a “tagayan” (liquor toasting) ritual with a swig of “lambanog” (coconut gin) inside a coconut-inspired pavilion in front of the park.
The festival, derived from “niyog” (coconut) and “yugyog” (move to a fast beat), began in August 2011 and evolved into a weeklong festivity dubbed “Niyogyugan Festival” to give tribute to coconut farmers and promote local tourism.
Most events of the festival were also streamed online this year. However, the visitors at the festival site were noticeably sparse this year compared to previous years.
This year, the provincial government constructed rows of booths at the back of the Kapitolyo (capitol building) to showcase local products and tourist spots of the participating 38 towns and two cities. Only the town of Padre Burgos did not participate this year.
For coco farmers
Niyogyugan Festival was disrupted in 2014 by Typhoon Glenda (international name: Rammasun) and was also not held in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Last year, Tan also scrapped the staging of the traditional festival due to the lack of sufficient budget and preparation time.
She declared plans to make some changes to this year’s festival for the benefit of the coconut farmers and to strengthen the promotion of the tourism industry.
During the coconut summit held here on Aug. 10, Tan vowed to reinvigorate the production of traditional coconut-based products like coco-sugar, virgin coconut oil, and lambanog.
She disclosed that the provincial government, along with other benefactors from the private sector, will put up a foundation to help the coconut farmers and their families.
Tan also promised to help expedite the release of funds for projects and programs due to the local coconut farmers as provided under the Coconut Farmers and Industry Trust Fund Act of 2021, or Republic Act No. 11524.