August is a time of the year where Quezon Province gets to celebrate its rich culture and colorful history. Together with the Department of Tourism, we celebrated the Nigyogyugan Festival, an annual festival wherein the Quezonians have an opportunity to showcase their local products. The merchandise and delicacies of each town are displayed in unique and creativity designed booths, also adorned entirely of coconuts.
Upon arrival at the Perez Park Compound right in front of Quezon’s Provincial Capitol, you’ll see a wide array of booths. These are the main attraction for the 10 days harvest festival. Each of them depicts their municipality based on livelihood and culture. It’s a great opportunity to roam around and experience the entirety of Quezon without personally visiting each municipality or city.
The Municipality of Infanta, for example, specializes in coconut production. It has a giant coconut in front of the store and on top of it has smoke coming out from the roof every minute, which is an indication of how copra and the dried meat of the coconut can be made through smoke-drying.
Polillo booth is one of my favorites, it’s kinda unique compared to the rest. I think they used wood parquet materials, plants and coconut splintered shells.
Guinayangan was a bit different from the other two I mentioned because instead of focusing on agriculture produce, they showcased AB Liner Bus and P & O Transportation, the main bus line in their municipality.
Tayabas booth also caught my attention. They featured the Minor Basilica of St. Michael the Archangel, the biggest Roman Catholic Church in the entire Province of Quezon and has one of the largest church clock in Asia.
The booths look more colorful and beautiful at night!
You can also buy your pasalubong inside, depending on what food or product they specialize in. The way they decorated their booths really gives you a feel of what’s it like in their town.
As you can see, they are decorated in full native coconut-based designs.
STREET DANCE COMPETITION
The grand parade started at exactly 2:30 in the afternoon. We all first gathered at SM Lucena where participants had their mini-rehearsal.
People from all walks of life patiently waited for the event to start. Everyone had their smartphone or DSLR ready. I also saw some familiar faces from Camarines Norte Tourism office.
I like the creativity that they put in. Every detail they used was to represent the coconut as the number one source of livelihood in Quezon.
According to them, they’ll dance for about 8 km from SM Lucena to the Quezon Convention Center where exhibitions and performances were held. I guess that watching street dance performances would be a great event for those who want to feed their eyes with colorful floats and costumes and at the same time lose some weight.
GRAND FLOAT PARADE
Apart from the street dance, they also have colorful floats. Each float represents the people, the town’s livelihood, and its local history.
Other floats, also portrayed its expertise in fishing and Agro-industry. Just like this float, it shows that their main source of livelihood is fishing, that’s why their float is designed to look like a boat. Aside from coconut products, they also sell a lot of fish.
I was amused by Lucban’s float. It has a huge Longganisang Lucban, which Quezon is famous for and Chami, a sweeter version of traditional pancit, topped with chicharon. These two are considered as Lucena’s signature dishes that’s why it holds the identity and culture of the city.
As posted by the Quezon Public information Office in their Facebook account, Plaridel landed 1st for the street dance competition; Tiaong for the best float; and Pagbilao, Quezon was announced as the champion for this year’s dance showdown.
Tagayan sa Niyogyugan
One of the new attractions for this year is the “Tagayan sa Niyogyugan” booth which aims to boost the lambanog industry in the province. “Lambanog” is a traditional Filipino distilled palm liquor made from tuba that has been aged for at least several months.
On the said booth, the tagayan ritual will take place, which is a common tradition in Quezon Province wherein each member of a group takes turn at drinking lambanog from a single shot glass which is then refilled by the tanggero.
The tanggero will pour lambanog to shot glass and will give it to the next person as he says “Naay po” which means “Here is the drink!” and then the natives will answer “Pakikinabangan p” which means to make good use of the drink. The said ritual aims to build friendship and show the hospitality of Quezonians through the warmth of lambanog.
My three days staying in Lucena for Niyogyugan Festival 2019 are such a great experience. Festivals like this is a great avenue in enriching the love for culture and our very own Filipino Identity.
From this escapade, I discover, learn and appreciate more my country specifically the Quezon Province. I like how the Quezonians cherished and celebrated these wonderful things that they have. I am proud to say that the tourism office from both local and regional levels did a great job.
How to get to Lucena City and other towns in Quezon
From Metro Manila, the easiest way to get to Lucena City and other points in Quezon is by bus. Take a bus from any of the terminals listed below and head to Lucena Grand Central Terminal in Lucena City. Travel time is 3 to 4 hours, with a fare of around P200. From Lucena, you can get to other points in the province by hopping onto another jeepney or bus.
Bus Terminals in Metro Manila going to Lucena:
- EDSA Kamias – Jac, Lucena Lines, Grand Star, or Tritran bus
- EDSA New York – Jam Transit bus
- EDSA Pasay – BLTB, Philtranco, JB Line Bicol Express, or Inland Trailways bus
- Pureza – AB Liner bus
- Lawton – N. dela Rosa bus
- Metropolis Alabang – N. dela Rosa, Jac Liner, AB Liner, Barney Autolines
