3 sunflower mazes to rise in Pangasinan

SEA OF YELLOW The first sunflower maze that was opened at a farm in Tayug town, Pangasinan province, attracted a steady stream of visitors in 2017. —WILLIE LOMIBAO

TAYUG, Pangasinan — To ensure that tourists will see sunflowers any day they visit this town, three sunflower mazes are being built here in time for the opening of the Sunflower Festival on March 12.

“Sunflowers are annual flowers. They only last for about two weeks … so we made three mazes with two-week intervals. We also plan to make another batch for the next cycle,” said landscape artist, Toni Rivera, who designed the first sunflower maze in this town last year.

The mazes will rise at the town’s ecopark instead of at the demonstration farm of Allied Botanical Corp. in Barangay C. Lichauco here.

Last year’s sunflower maze attracted 1,500 visitors on weekdays and 5,000 guests during weekends in the two months that it was opened to the public from February to April.

Cristina Vidad, C. Lichauco village council member said each maze would cover 1,200 square meters and would be composed of 4,000 sunflowers.

The mazes will be open from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. from March 12 to May 31 to accommodate motorists who stop for a look on their way back from other tourist destinations in northern Luzon. —Gabriel Cardinoza