Thanksgiving. Prosperity. Progress.
These three will be marked and celebrated during the upcoming fiesta of Hinamaylan, the Himaya Festival as the southern city celebrates its cityhood on March 25 to 31 of this year.
“Himaya Festival is celebrated in thanksgiving for the gift of cityhood and the prosperity and progress that comes with it,” Mayor Rogelio Raymund Tongson, Jr. said in a press release furnished to DNX.
Himaya Festival will integrate, for the first time, the rich history of Himamaylan and the strategic reef-to-ridge geography of one of the oldest settlements on Negros Island.
Among the featured events will be a mardi gras inspired float parade, the Patik Kawayan (percussion instruments made out of local bamboo varieties), and the first-ever Shellfish Festival to highlight the bounty of coastal resources and the thrust for sustainable development.
This is the first-ever celebration of the festival following the passage of an ordinance restoring and renaming the city’s official fiesta celebration, a press release furnished to DNX revealed.
The ordinance, sponsored by Councilor Janet T. Villafranca, restored 31 March as the fiesta date in commemoration of the charter anniversary of the City.
The measure was passed unanimously by the council yesterday and approved by TongsonJ on the same day.
Himamaylan was converted into a city last 31 March 2001 following the signing of R.A. 9028 under President Macapagal-Arroyo.
