Guimaras is gearing up for its second Dragon Fruit Fest, offering a different experience to locals and visitors who will visit the island province.
The ten-day event will kick off on Friday, August 4, 2023 at the Provincial Capitol Grounds.
Taking advantage of the influx of tourists on the island, festival events are slated on weekends.
A first in Western Visayas, the Guimaras Dragon Fruit Fest desires to position dragon fruit as an emerging agriculture high value crop and tourism event destination attraction in the island province.
Also, the provincial government of Guimaras and partner organizers aim to increase awareness of the dragon fruit which may increase the income of the local growers.
This year, festival events include a fun run, trade fair, farm tour, dragon fruit tasting and forum, among others.
The Dragon Fruit Costume FunRun and motorcade that will showcase the creativity and innovation in dragon fruit-inspired costume will kick off the celebration.
Dragon fruit products such as fresh fruits, processed or value-added products, planting materials, and other major agricultural products of Guimaras will be on display at the trade fair.
The festivities will likewise feature a dragon fruit farm tour which will showcase different dragon fruit farms in Guimaras while demonstration of dragon fruit cuisine and dragon fruit-based value-added products will take the spotlight at “Dragon Fruit Kulinarya”.
“Taste the Dragon Fruit” will provide a venue for visitors and guests to enjoy the flavors of Guimaras’ dragon fruit products while visitors at the trade fair can look forward to the “Dragon Fruit Classroom”.
An international business forum on dragon fruit farming will present opportunities to exchange knowledge on the update on technology on dragon fruit farming that could contribute to economic recovery of Guimaras particularly employment creation, increase household income, and increase local revenue focus on dragon fruit farming.
There will be busking sessions and bands which will provide nightly entertainment during the festival.AAL/LAF/PIA6-Iloilo/ GuimarasPIO
