Charmaine Pahate, Bacolod Councilor Jason Villarosa, Benjamin Lopue II, Charlie Co, Councilor Em Ang, City Tourism Officer Tere Manalili and Manny Montelibano (l-r) at the opening of the rum festival*Ronnie Baldonado photo
The Tanduay Bacolod Rum Festival opened with an art exhibition and jazz concert featuring Bacolod’s leading artists at the Art District in Bacolod City Friday afternoon, August 12.
This is the first face-to-face festival in Bacolod City since the two-year hiatus caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Bacolod Councilor Em Ang said.
Ang, who authored the city ordinance creating the rum festival, said it was first held in 2019 and its staging this year signals the reopening of tourism in Bacolod and Negros Occidental.
It features rum made in Bacolod and highlights the city’s arts, culture and food, she said.
“As a proudly Philippine-made rum, Tanduay has always been a staunch supporter of local artists. The art exhibition and concert featuring Bacolod’s finest are the perfect opening events for the festival, which celebrates the best of the local industry,” Tan-duay said in a statement.
Visual artist Charlie Co, founder of the Orange Project and Orange Gallery, conceptu-alized the Jazz Festival to complement the opening of the new art exhibit at the gallery.
Charmaine Pahate, Bacolod Councilor Jason Villarosa, Benjamin Lopue II, Charlie Co, Councilor Em Ang, City Tourism Officer Tere Manalili and Manny Montelibano (l-r) at the opening of the rum festival*Ronnie Baldonado photo
The group exhibition titled “Man and Monster” features the works of the PARA Collec-tive composed of artists Lec Cruz, Jason Montinola, RA Tijing, Ciane Xavier, Kaloy Sanchez, Nix Puno, Martin Honasan, Dexter Sy, Krista Nogueras, Don Dalmacio, and VICTORIA. The exhibit will also include works of artists from Manila such as Dex Fer-nandez, Kiko Escora, Romeo Lee, and 13 Lucky Monkey.
After the gallery opening, a jazz music festival followed with the Mike Tambasan Group, Mojo Nava, and Nancy Brew.
The Food Park at the Bacolod City Government Center (BCGC) grounds also opened on Friday.
The city’s most popular dishes and other food options are available to the public from 4 p.m. to 11 p.m. during the nine-day rum festival.
A barrel painting contest will be held at the Main Atrium of SM City Bacolod starting from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday, August 13.
The street art competition will be held at Bazket BCD on Lacson Avenue from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., August 14 to 17.
The Bottle Art Competition will be held at SM City Bacolod from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on August 16.
At 1 p.m. on the same day, the screening for the flairtending and mixology competi-tions will be held at Planta Hotel. Chef BJ Uy will lead the panel of judges who will screen the contestants.
On Aug. 19 and 20, the highly anticipated culinaria contest will be held along with a food crawl of some of Bacolod’s leading restaurants.
The Tanduay Bacolod Rum Festival ends on Aug. 20 with a float parade and street dance competition from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the BCGC grounds.
At 7 p.m. the grand finals of the flairtending and mixology contests will be held at the BCGC grounds, and at 8 p.m. the awarding ceremonies of the barrel art, bottle art, street art, and culinaria competitions will take place at the same venue.
At 8:30 p.m. there will be a free concert featuring Ethan Loukas, Magnus Haven, and Arthur Nery at the BCGC grounds. Tanduay brand ambassador Derek Ramsay will make a special guest appearance.
Also present at the opening of the festival were Bacolod Councilor Jason Villarosa, City Tourism Officer Tere Manalili and overall festival director Charmaine Pahate.*