Naga to host 2009 Filipino heritage festival

NAGA CITY, July 13 (PNA) -- Naga City Mayor Jesse M. Robredo has formally accepted the invitation of the Filipino Heritage Festival, Inc. (FHFI) and the National Commission for Culture & the Arts (NCAA) for the city to host the closing ceremonies of the 2009 Filipino Heritage Festival to be held on May 28-29, 2009.

The festival is among the big national events lined up to take place in Naga City in 2009.

Earlier, Naga City has won the bids to host the 2009 Private Schools Athletic Association (PRISAA) National Championships and the National Urologists’ Midyear Convention.

Filipino Heritage Festival is a yearly month-long celebration centered on heritage. It features performances, visual arts, art and trade exhibits, thematic culinary events and other activities highlighting traditions and customs on heritage sites.

With its rich socio-clerico history, Naga City, then known as Ciudad de Nueva Caceres, easily qualifies as a fitting venue for a colorful closing ceremony of the nation’s biggest and longest-running cultural heritage celebration.

In a letter to Armita B. Rufino, president of the Filipino Heritage Festival Inc. based in Makati City, Robredo said Naga City’s acceptance to host the event is in consonance with Presidential Proclamation No. 439 which declares the month of May as National Heritage Month.

The mayor said this is also in line with the city’s unwavering commitment in the nurturing of the Bicol Region’s rich cultural heritage.

He said Naga’s participation in the event is also in solidarity with the Filipino people’s common goal to strengthen the social fabric as a potent tool in nation-building.

The celebration of the heritage festival, according to NCCA Chairman Ambeth Ocampo, is a manifestation of joining of hands, hearts and minds to protect, propagate, and celebrate our multi-faceted and rich Filipino traditions.

During the festival, various events are held on specific date in May in different parts of the country, including Cebu, Bacolod, Iloilo, Davao, Cagayan de Oro, Pampanga, Bulacan, Ilocos, and Metro Manila.

This early, the city mayor has directed Joe Perez of the Naga City Visitors Center to prepare the ground works and coordinate closely with Ana Maria Harper, FHFI festival director, to ensure a colorful and meaningful hosting of festival’s closing ceremonies.

The mayor said that the Naga-leg of the festival should be a concerted effort between the city government and the private sector.

The festival’s working theme for 2009 is “Awit at Kanta” which will highlight Bicol's dance and music during the two-day closing ceremonies.

In the initial talks, Perez has appraised FHFI festival coordinator Judith Neric on the flowering of rondalla groups, choirs, and school-based cultural and performing arts troupes in the city and outlying towns.

In 2004 that Naga City hosted the highly-successful First International Rondalla Festival, which was participated in by over 21 rondalla groups coming from at least five countries.

Perez has suggested that the 5th Bicol Business Week be timed for next year’s heritage festival that will showcase Bicol trade and products, with a Bicol culinary or food festival as an added feature.

It is also hoped that the yearly Penafrancia May Festival would coincide or at least take place close to the date of the heritage festival.