BacoLaodiat Festival 2012

CEBU, Philippines - About 30,000 revelers, according to police estimates, flocked to the closing rites of the four-day BacoLaodiat Festival, considered the second biggest festival of Bacolod City next to the world-renowned MassKara Festival.

Mayor Evelio Leonardia said, “After the MassKara Festival, this is the biggest. The crowd that gathered at the Bacolod Government Center on the culmination Monday night (January 23) was overwhelming and beyond our expectations.”

Every year the BacoLaodiat Festival, now on its 7th year with the theme “A Majestic Spirit in a Challenging Year,” keeps getting bigger and better, Mayor Leonardia disclosed.

BacoLaodiat is coined from “Baco” for Bacolod and “Laodiat,” a Fookien word for “happy celebration.” It started in 2006, when Leonardia and then Iloilo Mayor Jerry Treñas decided to have a twin celebration of the Chinese New Year in January, simultaneously in their respective cities.

Bacolod and Iloilo have always been “sister cities,” according to Mayor Leonardia, long before the actual signing of their “Twinning” last year. Many families in Bacolod have roots in Iloilo and both cities owe most of their progress to the old Chinese immigrants who established businesses in both cities.

Festival chairman Leonito Lopue said that from a simple celebration in 2006, BacoLaodiat now features a myriad of activities like a grand parade of illuminated floats featuring the Chinese zodiac animals, lanterns, fireworks display, cultural shows, live concerts, street dance and other art competitions.

BacoLaodiat is another leap forward for this city as “it is clearly accepted by the people as part of our regular calendar in Bacolod City,” Mayor Leonardia pointed out.

He said they see the BacoLaodiat Festival as a uniting factor for the Filipino-Chinese community, a tourist attraction and economic stimulant for the city.

The participants and the crowd that gathered for the four-day event, which started Friday (January 20), had exceeded all previous celebrations.

“It was one of the biggest crowds ever at the Bacolod Government Center,” Bacolod police director Senior Supt. Ricardo De la Paz said, who came up with the 30,000 estimate at the closing rites.

The 2012 BacoLaodiat Festival opened Friday at the Provincial Capitol Lagoon until Sunday, and culminated at the Bacolod City Government Center on Monday, as the Chinese New Year started.

Meanwhile, here are the winners in the photography contest, lantern street dance competition, and dragon lantern making contest:

In the Canon Photography Contest  DSLR Category, the grand winner was Martin Jereza with a prize of EOS 1000D DSLR Camera; first runner-up –Matthew Advincula with Powershot SX220 HS; and second runner-up—Leonito Lopue with iP2770 Pixma Printer.

For the Lantern Street Dance Competition, the champion was Grupo Dies Y Siete with P60,000 cash prize; first runner-up—Danz World Company—P40,000; and second runner-up—Double “J” Full Force—20,000. All three winners received trophies and certificates.

For the Dragon Lantern Making Contest, the champion was Ian Valladarez with P15,000 cash prize; first runner-up—Patrick Payumo with P10,000; and second runner-up—Lyster James Dingcong with P5,000.* (FREEMAN)