Bacolod City – A new festival will be launched next month in the Sugar Bowl of the Philippines and the City of Smiles. The 1st Sugar & Smiles Festival reels off on September 15 to 17, at one of the city’s malls. The theme for this year’s maiden edition is “Solidarity and Diversity in the Philippines’ Premier Agri Industry.”
Co-presented by the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA), Sugarsmiles Philippines Management Inc. (SPMI), and the SM Group, the festival will bring together various stakeholders and market players to work for the overall success of the sugar industry.
Participating in the festival are the three major industry federations, namely: NFSP (National Federation of Sugarcane Planters), CONFED (Confederation of Sugar Producers’ Assoications), and UNIFED (United Sugar Producers Federation of the Philippines).
SRA is the industry regulator and national government agency headed by newly appointed Administrator Pablo S. Azcona, who will deliver the keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the festival on September 15. SPMI is a Filipino company formed by Negrenses who published the first coffee table book about Negros Occidental. Sugar & Smiles: The Negrense Legacy Beyond 2020 has won awards in Toronto, Canada and Bali, Indonesia bestowed by the Chicago-based International Association of Business Communicatiors (IABC) and its Singapore-based regional arm, IABC Asia Pacific.
The three-day festival aims to promote the sugar industry’s growth and development through greater participation of the private and public sectors. It will also build up the industry’s food sectors that use sugar cane and its by-products through a cluster of booths at the venue in SM City Bacolod. There will be a painting exhibit, singing competition, fashion show, and acoustic band performance during the festival.
Mag Sugarlandia, a new magazine which serves as the festival’s souvenir program, will also be launched at the festival. It will feature “The Sugar Industry in Negros: A Bittersweet Story” authored by award-winning writer, Atty. Raymundo Torres Pandan Jr.
Highlighting the festival is the search for the first-ever Miss Young Sugarlandia who will be selected from among the 10 finalists on September 17.
Festival Director is Benjie Torre, who can be contacted at 09178882550 for more details. (PR via The Visayan Daily Star (TVDS), photo courtesy of TVDS)
