LINGAYEN, Pangasinan – Fun-filled and exciting events await visitors and spectators starting April 30 to May 1 capping this year’s edition of Pistay Dayat (Sea Festival) celebration.
On April 30, sand sculptors from various areas in the region will compete for the best art work carved from sand on the Capitol beachfront. The competition, in three categories—professional, student/youth, children–will start at 5 a.m.
Professional category is limited only to five competing groups while 15 groups will compete for the student/youth category. For children category, five groups will vie for the top prize.
Almost simultaneous with the sand sculpting competition, spectators will witness the Army Sky Diving and Exhibition Artillery Static Display also at the beachfront, coupled with Beach Volleybelles elimination games at 8 o’clock in the morning, along with a Paragliding Exhibition Show. An invitational shootfest, the 1st Urduja Cup will thrill enthusiasts of the sport at the PNP grounds.
On the same day, the much-awaited search for the fairest maiden will take place at 8PM at the Capitol Plaza. Twenty-five (25) lovely and witty Pangasinense ladies will outshine each other for this year’s Limgas na Pangasinan Pageant Night.
Activities for the sea festival’s main day on May 1 shall start with a Thanksgiving Mass at the Capitol beachfront at exactly 7 o’clock in the morning.
After the mass, a grand parade of over a hundred artistically-decorated motorized bancas will cruise along the historic Limahong Channel of the Agno River starting 8AM.
One of the major highlights of the festival, Banca Parada, a competition of artistically designed bancas, also showcases the pristine beauty and history of the revived rivers in the province. Winners of the contest will also be announced during the sea festival’s commemorative program (10AM) at the Riverside Resort located in Banaga, Bugallon town.
Fun continues with the holding of Pangasinan 1st Skateboarding Competition to be conducted 1PM at the Capitol beachfront. This will be preceded with the championship games of the Beach Volleybelles competition follows at 3PM.
Pistay Dayat 2017 will not only serve as a venue for revelry. It will likewise be a challenging activity for jobseekers via the Night Job Market Labor Day Celebration, 3PM until 12 midnight at the Pangasinan PESO Building.
And yes, Pangasinenses will have the chance to watch and be entertained by GMA7 stars/talents. The crowd drawer GMA-7 Kapuso Night will be held at 6 o’clock in the evening at the Capitol Plaza.
Matching the Kapuso Night sensation will be a live band concert sponsored by San Miguel Corporation starting at 8PM at the scenic Capitol beachfront.
The following day, May 2, provincial officials and employees, along with youth brigades and non-government organizations, will mass for the coastal clean-up on the Lingayen Gulf beach head, just back of the provincial Capitol and Urduja House.
By Dexter A. See
