The City Government of Bacolod will celebrate the fourth Rum Festival on Saturday, August 10, 2024, with the opening at the Bacolod City Government Center, Councilor Em Ang said on Friday, August 9.
Ang, who authored an ordinance declaring the third week of August as a celebration of the Rum Festival in the city, said the Bacolod Rum Festival is open to everybody and it's not exclusive to one company only.
" It's the Bacolod Rum Festival. It just so happens that for several staging of our Rum Festival, companies are sponsoring the events," she said.
She added that they are also inviting other companies as well to join in the festival.
Ang noted that the sugar cane has been the major product in Bacolod City and the Province of Negros Occidental, and the plantation of the same has also been the major source of employment for the citizens.
She said Bacolod City, dubbed the Sugar Capital of the Philippines, is also home to the world’s largest-selling rum.
Rum is a distilled, clear alcoholic beverage that is either a by-product of molasses production or made directly from sugar cane juice.
“After 2019, we were stalled by the pandemic, so for 2020 and 2021, we didn’t have the festival, and we came back in 2022. It signaled the return of the face-to-face activities and the resumption of the festivals in the city,” Ang said.
She said the festival will end on August 17, adding that it's a week-long celebration.
Ang disclosed that the newest edition this year is the Rum Masterclass for rum appreciation and teaching on various ways to serve rum in cocktails./MAP