CANDELARIA, Zambales – The second edition of the three-day “Kaligawan ha Mayanan” festival kicked off Thursday with Gov. Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. leading participants in the first ever “Alay Langoy” swim event at the scenic Uacon Lake in this town.
At the same time, a 116-kilometer cycling event took off early yesterday morning, bringing a total of 106 bikers and cycling enthusiasts pedaling along the picturesque Zambales countryside from Subic town to Candelaria.
“Kaligawan” is an annual festivity organized by Gov. Ebdane to promote tourism in the northernmost municipalities of Zambales.
Literally translating to “festivities in the North”, Kaligawan was created last year to attract visitors here and in the nearby towns of Sta. Cruz, Masinloc and Palauig and make them appreciate the eco-tourism sites, the local culture and products that these towns have to offer.
“The towns from Palauig to Sta. Cruz need a little more boost in terms of tourism promotion compared to the municipalities down south, which already reap revenues from tourists who flock to local beaches during summer,” Ebdane said.
“With this festival, we’d like to tell visitors to Zambales that there are also attractions up north where they could experience and enjoy simple outdoor fun for the family or extreme adventure for the sports aficionados,” he added.
Aside from the Kaligawan festival, Ebdane has also organized the Sta. Cruz-Mangatarem Off-Road Challenge last August and the First Zambales Dragon Boat Festival last month to help push tourism in this part of the province.
At the Kaligawan event, the first day of the festival also featured a kayak clinic and a kayak fun race that were handled by the Canoe and Kayak Association of the Philippines at Uacon Lake.
At night, the final bouts for the Zamba Boxing Competition were held at the Candelaria town plaza.
For the second day, organizers have scheduled several fun events at the Uacon Cove, which is the staging area for trips to white-sands island of Potipot. These include the “Pulayo” fun run, sibit-sibit banca race, 5-km kayak race, beach volleyball, and “Extreme Challenge” fun games.
In the afternoon, the provincial government, along with some volunteer groups, will conduct a medical mission at barangay Sinabacan here.
Friday’s events will end with a variety show at the governor’s headquarters also in Sinabacan.
At the Kaligawan, visitors could either participate, compete or just watch and enjoy different events like the Kayak clinic and the Kayak fun race, the Zamba boxing finals, Pulayo marathon, sibit-sibit banca race, beach volleyball and other fun and challenging games and relays.
On the third day of the Kaligawan festival, a beach party has been organized at the Uacon Cove, with the various tourism establishments in the area putting out shows and entertainment along the beach area.
