Celebrating the bounty of the sea

• Source: http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/celebrating-the-bounty-of-the-sea-2/
• Sunday, June 25, 2017

(BusinessMirror)

The province of Pangasinan recently celebrated the bounty of the sea with the Pistay Dayat, a traditional festival held in May at the vast stretch of historic Lingayen Gulf, one of the country’s biggest gulfs and longest beaches.

The highlight of the celebration is the Banca Parada fluvial parade at the Agno River, which featured gaily decorated boats showcasing municipalities, government offices and establishments within Pangasinan.

According to Gov. Amado Espino III, the river parade also showcases Agno as one of country’s cleanest river systems after undergoing rehabilitation in the previous provincial administration, which is sustained by the present provincial government.

He added that Pistay Dayat also stresses the need to protect the natural resources, marine, coastal, river and mountain ecosystems for the next generation.

A major producer of freshwater fish, the river was cleared of fish pens and other obstructions to allow free flow of water. Millions of fresh water fingerlings were released to allow spawning and bring back its once abundant aquatic life.

The 206-kilometers Agno, which originates in the Cordillera Mountain ranges, is the country’s largest river in terms of water discharge, draining around 6.6 cubic kilometers of fresh water into the Lingayen Gulf.

Spicing up the festivities are fringe events, such as paramotor, paragaliding and skydiving exhibitions, sandcastle-building, shootfests, musical and entertainment shows, beach volleyball, airsoft competitions, tourism and trade expo, art exhibits, various sporting events and the Limgas na Pangasinan beauty pageant, which select the ambassadresses of tourism and goodwill of the province.

Rocking the night away were the Kapuso Night featuring stars from the Kapuso Artist Center and the San Miguel National Band Concert, which pitted the country’s best up-and-coming rock bands.

The monthlong festivity drew to a close with a coastal cleanup at the Lingayen Gulf, as part of the continuing effort to protect its fragile ecosystem.