Thursday, September 29, 2011

Feature : Castilla's Unod Festival 2011, a celebration of health and blessings

by Irma a. Guhit

SORSOGON CITY, SEPTEMBER 29 (PIA)...."The Unod Festival is the expression of thanksgiving of the people of Castilla, it means  a celebration of the bountiful harvest of rootcrops of out town and the value of being an industrious people," Mayor Olive Bermillo explained in a meeting with PIA here last Saturday, Sept. 24 when she was made to respond to the survey conducted by the agency this week.

"Everything now is on high gear as we will start the celebration of the Unod Festival, the official festival of the local government of Castilla to start this Sept. 30 up to October 8," Mayor Bermillo said.

Castilla in the province of Sorsogon is known to be one of the best farming towns here. Mostly all the people are dependent on the land produce of different varieties of rootcrops like camote, ube, cassava, gabi and uraro, hence the Unod Festival is a celebration of these abundance derived from the land and the continued value of people making best the value of the land.

The mayor also stressed that the Unod Festival is also a celebration of blessings the people received from government assistance to make farming their prime industry and the direction that the local government of Castilla has envisioned for the town making their rootcrops become the most viable source for livelihood to fight poverty and an expression of the industriousness of the people of Castilla.

"This 9-day celebration will highlight a display of the rootcrops produced by farmers in the Agro -Festival Fair to be participated in by our 39 barangays showcasing how these products were preserved, made into candies, used as add on to viands and how these are now becoming a favorite food to advocate  healthy lifestyle," Bermillo stressed.

"We have also dialogued here with our local officials, health workers and specially the Department of Education (DepEd) to make use of these rootcrops as the main snacks that should be served in the school canteens so that children will be made more aware that rootcrops are healthy food . It should also be the food to be served to visitors to help propel the economy of Castilla and eventually teach the next generation to do away with junk foods," Bermillo also explained.

Aside from the rootcrops, Castilla is also known as a fishing community and a fruit basket of the province.

People traveling in the national highway passing by the town of Castilla will always see the fruit stands beside the road abundant with year round local produce from the local variety of santol to Bangkok santol, pineapples, bread fruit, papaya, guyabano, atis, guava, biriran, melon and almost all local fruits and vegetables  found in the province but basically these rootcrops mentioned always are in abundance.

This year's festival will start with the Thanksgiving Mass on Sept. 30, at 1:00PM at the new Municipal Building to be attended by all employees, local officials, guests and the people of Castilla. It  will be followed by a press conference where the local media are invited.

A motorcade starting from Barangay Sugoy will pass by the barangays of Macalaya, Poblacion, La Union and to end at the Brgy. Cumadcad infront of the public market and at 7:00PM will be the coronation of the Mutya na Castilla.

An Agro-Trade Fair to run for one week will showcase all the local produce of the town to include the Unod Festival Photo Contest ,  Media Invitational Tour to the tourism destinations and agricultural potentials of the place,a fun run, mangrove tree planting, carabao race and other activities that will show the total potential of the town in terms of agriculture.

A street dancing and float parade competition, Search of Talentadong Castillano, Civic Military Parade with the participation of the drum and bugle corps of the schools are activities included in the festival also.

"We hope to attract investors to our place also specially in tourism development and agricultural opportunities as there are now big corporations here in Castilla like the Manzehing Corporation who is now on to agro- development here and who have invested specially in agriculture,"Bermillo also explained.

"The Unod Festival is just a means to propel our agricultural potential as a town and ultimately become a statement of development where the people of Castilla will be able to live a better quality of life out of the land they till and these produce they will share to the national and hopefully to the global markets as health foods are now the trend," Mayor Bermillio beamed with hope in the success of the celebration.(PIA-SORSOGON)

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