Niyogyugan Festival eyed as next major tourist attraction of Quezon

LUCENA, Quezon, Philippines — The province of Quezon is planning to develop its annual Niyogyugan Festival to be at par with other famous fiestas in the country to make it a major tourist attraction.

 Provincial tourism officer Alberto Bay said in an interview the local government of Quezon is gearing up to boost Niyogyugan Festival into an event of bigger scale, same as that of other festivities such as the Sinulog Festival of Cebu and Panagbenga Festival of Baguio.

“What we are doing is we’re building up our position. So last year, we started counting the visitors and we started engaging the media for exposure. We also conducted festival management seminars for the committees,” Bay said.

In the long run, the officer said Governor David Suarez is looking into the creation of a foundation to manage the event to ensure its continuity even after his term.

He added the province is also increasing the number of its accredited hotels and coordinating with the local authorities to address traffic congestion in the area in response to the possible influx of spectators in the coming years.

Department of Tourism Region 4A director Rebecca Villanueva-Labit expressed full support of the endeavors of the Quezon Province to upscale the Niyogyugan Festival, which is held in Lucena, Quezon each year.

According to Bay, Niyogyugan Festival started in 2011 as a simple trade fair to showcase the coconut products of each municipality in Quezon.

It developed into a full-blown festivity the following year with trade booths, parades, street dances and other activities, with the spirit of celebrating coconut--the major agricultural product of Quezon—and its farmers.

 Bay said the festival not only provided a boost to the province’s tourism industry, but also to the agricultural sector.

“It pushed them (the municipalities) to plant more coconuts and manufacture more coconut-based products. They also developed market linkages. Those who have won from our festivity’s competition also used their prize money for agri and tourism projects, such as business centers and pasalubong centers,” he said.

Roberto Gajo, provincial agriculturist of Quezon said the organizers are expecting Niyogyugan’s total sales to reach P12.7 million during its two-week trade exhibit this 2016. Visitor traffic meanwhile, will double from the 200,000 recorded last year.