Zamboanga City gears for Hermosa Festival 2012

THE City Government of Zamboanga is eyeing to invite either President Benigno Aquino III or newly-designated Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Manuel Roxas II as the keynote speaker in this year’s Hermosa Festival.

The City Government gears for this year’s month-long celebration of the Zamboanga Hermosa Festival 2012, the highlight of which is the feast of Our Lady of the Pillar on October 12.

Mayor Celso Lobregat presided over a meeting Thursday afternoon in City Hall to finalize the different activities for this year’s month-long festival.

This year’s month-long celebration is anchored on the theme “Fiesta Hermosa…Mas Alegre na Zamboanga (Hermosa Festival…It’s more Fun in Zamboanga City).”

The Hermosa Festival is the grandest annual festival in Zamboanga City.

The festival is also being celebrated by Zamboangueños all over the country and in other parts of the world.

Among the famed activities sponsored by the City Government during the Fiesta Pilar celebration are the Regatta, a sail boat race at the R.T. Lim Boulevard; Mascota competition, a contest of beautiful Zamboanga made gowns; agri-trade fair; dance sport competition; Pesca Kita, a fishing competition at the Paseo del Mar; Wow sardinas, a sardine-eating spectacle at the R.T. Lim Boulevard; float parade and the street dance competition among others.

The festival is also packed with sports activities such as golf, table tennis, dart, basketball and others as well as art exhibits and beauty pageants for both adults and children.

The whole day of October 12, the feast day of Nuestra Señora La Virgen del Pilar, is relegated to religious activities with the Fort Pilar Shrine as the center of activities.

From October 1-11 novena masses and processions are also scheduled. (Bong Garcia)