IT WILL be a day of food, culture and the arts as local and foreign tourists gathered in Silay City for the 19th Adobo Festival Saturday, November 10.
Edsie Sazon-Valladarez, supervisor of Balay Negrense Museum, said the 19th Adobo Festival, which will be held from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., will feature adobo cooking contests for students and food enthusiasts, a cultural show, kitchen art, food booths and lectures, Filipino games, a fashion show and acoustic band.
Valladares said they are promoting Adobo Festival in order to let the people know that Negros or Silay City is not only known for heritage houses and eco-tourism but also for food enthusiasts.
"The Adobo Festival is being conducted, not just to provide tourism and attraction but a legacy that someday, young generation will consider adobo as a food for all," she added.
The event is also held as a fundraising to help maintain Balay Negrense Museum, which relies heavily on entrance fees and the support of sponsors of various programs like the Adobo Festival and Summer Art Workshops.
During the 9 a.m. opening program of the Adobo Festival, which will be held at the Don Aguinaldo S. Gamboa Heritage Compound at corner Rizal and Sen. Locsin Streets, beside St. Theresita's Academy, the dance and music majors of the Doña Montserrat Lopez Memorial High School Special Program for the Arts will perform, while the San Diego Youth Parish Council will present the "Adobo Fiesta" Zarzuela.
After lunch, the Betty Bantug-Benitez Foundation will sponsor and facilitate Filipino games for children, former Silay City tourism officer Ver Pacete will give a food lecture, and this will be followed by the Filipiniana Trash Runway fashion show featuring the creation of Entrepreneurial Eco-Artists of Negros Island.
Slated to perform after the fashion show are Rekindle, Quinta Shanel, the Monday Group Band and Ukelele Negros.
The organizers have also invited the winning performers of the Kasaysayan Dance Drama competition and the Lin-ay sang Cinco de Noviembre conducted by Barangay III in Silay City during their November 5 fiesta.
Valladares said they are selling Adobo Festival tickets at P150 that will entitle the bearers to a free tour of Balay Negrense Museum and a meal with two variants of winning adobo recipes of past festivals.
Guests can just also walk in and watch the various contests at the same time buy a meal from various booths featuring some Silay restaurants and food producers.