Long Live Vigan City: Collections of Delighted Journeys and Festive Memories

Vigan City, Ilocos Sur, stands out as one of the nation’s rich cultural heritages because of its best-preserved objects, and it is known for its beauty in architecture because of the preserved Spanish colonial towns, which combine native Philippine and Oriental building designs and construction with colonial Spanish architecture, which is still accessible in the area.

It is a city known for a lot of tourist spots, products, and more, but don't forget their colorful and exciting festivals and celebrations. These festivals and celebrations are known for introducing a variety of products, histories, and traditions, which is known as the Viva Vigan Fiesta. Vigan Fiesta is held every January 25th, in honor of St. Paul the Apostle, the Vigan City’s patron saint. The fiesta lasts several days and involves the celebration and anniversary of Vigan's cityhood. Whereas, the festival started on January 18 and ended on January 27, and it has different activities that are scheduled per day.

Activity Kick-off Program: Institutional Parade and Marching Band Competition and Sayaw, Talento at Galing ng Educators (STAGE) Competition

This event is scheduled for Educational Day on January 20, and it showcases the different talents of the students that are studying and also the teachers in Vigan City.

Activity Kick-off Program Institutional Parade and Marching Band Competition is one of the highlights of the fiesta since it is very fun to watch because of the amazing music and bands, and more. It shows the different skills and talents in dancing, playing instruments, and more, as well as how they prepared for the competition for the festival and how they overcame their fears and tried to give it their best shot to perform very well. They also have beautiful costumes that catch attention and give a more lively performance!

And the Sayaw, Talento at Galing ng Educators (STAGE) Competition, which is showcasing the different talents and skills of the teachers in Vigan City. It is very fun because of the different music that they performed, the dances, and also some acting skills. And I really like how they showcase fun and lively vibes!

Longganisa Street Competition and Longganisa Showdown Competition

During this fiesta, the Longganisa Festival is also celebrated on January 22, which is Cityhood Day. Longganisa is a popular delicacy of Vigan, which is a Filipino sausage, and it is held annually on the 22nd of January.

One of the competitions during this day is the Longganisa Street Competition. It showcases how they managed to dance well in the street, which is also very similar to the showdown, but this one is during the day and you need to walk while dancing and showcasing the Vigan Longganisa. It is very fun to watch and be amazed at how they perform very well during that day. It is truly amazing how they manage to perform well and dance well in front of a lot of people

Also, there is the Longganisa Showdown Competition, which is held during the night. Basically, this shows how they perform very well on the Plaza Burgos. It also highlights their presentation and their dancing, which is very fun to watch! They use some backdrops for effects and some acting, which is very entertaining to watch.

Carnival or Karnabalan

Carnival or Karnabalan, is one of the most exciting and enjoyable places during the Vigan Fiesta. It has different rides, games, and stalls, which are food stalls or stalls where you can buy clothes, watches, and more. In this place, every child wants to go here because of the different prizes that you can actually get.

Vigan City Fiesta Grand Parade

The Vigan City Fiesta Grand Parade was held during the Fiesta of Vigan which is January 25, this is called the Vigan City Fiesta and ABC Night. There’s a lot of people on that parade consisting of the winners of the different competitions of the celebrations. The parade has a lot of happenings because the teachers of the different schools also attend the parade and some students. The streets were filled with loud music because of the different marching bands in different schools. This was the most awesome parade that I’ve ever seen and incredibly entertaining! 

Throughout the journey in Vigan, it was surely amazing and very enjoyable and it gave me a lot of fun that I never imagined and the festival surely makes many people smile because of the various competitions. This celebration has many goals, not only for showcasing the culture, history, and products but also for showcasing the potential of the Bigueño, and this may help them express themselves more, which is one of the good benefits of this festival. Also this event made me realize how rich Vigan culture is and their cooperation in organizing the festival—how Bigueño are actually good at many things so that it will come up well and well planned. And even though I didn’t attend all the activities, I am sure that all were enjoyable. And I'm hoping to attend next year's celebration again.

 

So, what are you all waiting for? Maykayon bumisita ditoy siudad ti Vigan, Ilocos Sur!

Reference

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