TACLOBAN CITY – A motorcade which will make its way through this City’s main thoroughfares will formally kick-off activities for the month-long 2017 Sangyaw  Festival of Lights  in honor of  Señor Sto. Niño.

The City Government-led Festival of Lights headed by Mayor Cristina G. Romualdez will start with a Motorcade at 3:00 p.m, tomorrow, June 9 and pass through the main streets of the City to signal the opening of the festivities.

Assembly time for the motorcade which will be participated by Festival Sponsors, City Government Employees and the 2017 Miss Tacloban Candidates will be 2:30 p.m at Maysaysay Boulevard, said the City Tourism Office. After the motorcade, the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Sangyawan Park at the Balyuan Grounds will follow.

Among the highlights of this year’s festivities with the theme: “Unity for Progress,” is the Sangyaw Parade of Lights on June 29, which features creatively decorated floats, brightly  lighted with LED (Light-Emitting Diodes) lights and street dancers against the backdrop of the upbeat “Sangyaw Theme”.

In keeping up with this year’s theme the Tourism Office announced that this year’s Parade of Lights, will have for the first time an “Open Category,” that will showcase floats and festivals of other invited Local Government Units.

Other highlights are the Miss Tacloban Coronation Night on June 24; Mr. Sangyaw Tacloban on June 28 at the Robinsons Activity Area; the Sangyaw Foundation Ball; and Battle of the Bands at the Sangyawan Park on June 15, among others.

Aside from its regular activities, this year’s Sangyaw Festival will also feature a Job and Business Fair on June 12 at the Astrodome, to coincide with the City Charter Day Anniversary; the Fiesta Trade Fair at Plaza Rizal on June 28; the Golf Tournament and the National Jet Ski  Competition on June 24; and the Waray Talents Concert at the Tacloban City Convention Center on June 27 and 28.

Religious Activities for the 128^th Tacloban Fiesta include the Balyuan Rites on June 20 at the Balyuan Ampitheater, which reenacts the historical exchange of the Sto. Nino image between Tacloban and Basey Town; the traditional Fluvial and Land Processions, and Pontifical Mass on Fiesta Day, June 30.

The Sangyaw Festival was started by former First Lady Imelda Romualdez-Marcos in the 70’s every 29th of June, and was revived in 2008 by former Mayor Alfred S. Romualdez when Tacloban was converted into a Highly Urbanized City. “Sangyaw” is the waray-waray term for Announce or Herald. –HENRY JAMES G. ROCA/CIO