Vigan City holds Longganisa fest

By Freddie Lazaro

VIGAN CITY, Ilocos Sur – Officials of this World Heritage City led by Mayor Eva Marie S. Medina had slated various significant events for the holding of its 15-day annual fiesta celebration featuring the 10th foundation anniversary of its cityhood, and the “Longganisa Festival” that started Jan. 16 to the 30th.

Medina said they started the yearly festivities with the local residents started attending a nine-day Novena for the patron of Vigan, Saint Paul, until January 24.

“We formally started continuous entertaining day and night activities of our yearly feast on Jan. 19 until Jan. 30 which are held mostly in the city’s Plaza Burgos,” she said.

“Jan. 22 is the day for the celebration of the 10th foundation year of Vigan’s Cityhood wherein the Longganisa Festival street dancing will be taking center stage through a competition moving to the beat of ‘San Pablo, Kamang ti Ili’ as the festival music showing the Bigueños devotion to Saint Paul, our patron,” she added.

According to the lady mayor, this year’s fiesta celebration had a lot of entertainment activities to provide remarkable attractions to the expected thousands local and foreign visitors that join this city’s feast to watch the various artistic events particularly the “Longganisa street dancing festival.”

Highlighting this year’s fiesta: The “Siglat ti Ilocandia” variety show, zarzuela, Abel Iloco fashion show, which is a night of entertainment where local talents perform in the traditional Zarsuela Ilocana; the balikatan and agricultural day featuring agri-float parade and contest; the Vigan City farm festival to include pig catching contest, pig rolleta, bingo bonanza, and other traditional games; coronation of night and revival dance contest; and seminar on container gardening.