BY CHRYSEE G. SAMILLANO
The second staging of the Tanduay Bacolod Rum Festival kicked off at the Art District in Brgy. Mandalagan, Bacolod City yesterday with a Jazz Festival and a group exhibit at the Orange Gallery titled “Man and Monster.”
The local musicians featured in the Jazz Festival conceptualized by Orange Project founder Charlie Co were the Mike Tambasen Group, Mojo Nova and Nancy Brew.
Bacolod Councilor Em Ang yesterday said the Tanduay Bacolod Rum Festival will serve as a front act of the main festival of Bacolod which is the forthcoming MassKara Festival in October.
Ang, chairman of the Sangguniang Panlungsod Committee on History, Art and Culture, said this is the first in-person activity after the pandemic. She recalled that the first staging of the Rum Festival was in 2019 after a simple meeting with former Negros Press Club president Elsie Jolingan and Charmaine Pahate, Tanduay Bacolod Rum Festival organizer.
“We look forward to a big celebration this year and even bigger celebration in the years to come,” she said at the opening program that was also attended by Councilor Jason Villarosa and Bacolod Tourism Officer Ma. Teresa Manalili.
Ang said the Tanduay Bacolod Rum Festival started three years ago after the passage of City Ordinance No. 898 establishing the Bacolod Rum Festival which she authored for the purpose of positioning Bacolod City as a festival destination in the country. Secondly, it capitalizes on the fact that rum is a by-product of sugar which is produced in Negros.
Tanduay Distillers, Inc has four major distilleries in the country and one of its plants is in Bacolod, she added.
Co said the Art District is a space for celebrating art and gives inspiration and vision of great possibilities. It is a place where diverse artists converge like the musicians, painters, filmmakers, writers and even lovers of art.
“So we try our best to inspire and make us proud that the art scene in Bacolod is alive…. let us also collaborate with Tanduay more and make the world better,” he said.
Tanduay will hold a barrel painting competition at the main atrium of SM City at 10 am today, a street art contest from August 14 to 17 at the BazketBCD along Lacson Street, bar tending competition on Tuesday at Basket SM City, among many other activities.*
