Pangasinan’s Pistay Dayat will be ‘festival of nature’ next year

May 8, 2018 Community Billboard

LINGAYEN, PANGASINAN – Governor Amado Espino III has said Pangasinan’s annual celebration of Pistay Dayat (Sea Festival) next year will not only focus on thanksgiving for the sea but will be a “feast of nature”.
Espino, speaking before a crowd during the commemorative program of Pistay Dayat 2018 at the Capitol beachfront, said next year’s celebration will be repackaged and the involvement of all coastal towns and cities in Pangasinan will be needed.
Provincial Tourism and Cultural Affairs Officer Malu Elduayan, in an interview, said the repackaging of the “Sea Festival” to “Festival of Nature” is a new announcement from the governor and they are yet to discuss in a meeting which department will lead as well as the details of the inspired project.
However, it was emphasized that next year’s festival will no longer be just a “thanksgiving” for the bounties of the sea.
The governor said the sea festival is a manifestation of Pangasinenses’ love for the environment.
“Let us then continue loving and taking care of nature to the best of our ability in order that the younger generation may enjoy in the future the fruits of their labor today,” Espino said.
Espino said “Banca Parada” and “Pakar Awards” will resume on a bigger scale in next year’s celebration, which were temporarily skipped this year due to the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE).
“Banca Parada and Pakar Awards were not included this year because barangay officials who are the main participants of the two events are busy preparing for the forthcoming barangay election this May,” he said.
Elduayan said the two regular events have been replaced with Boat Painting Contest and Dulang (boodle fight).
For the boat painting contest, 14 coastal municipalities and cities in the province except for Anda, took part.
Pistay Dayat 2018 opened last April 20 and will conclude on May 12 with the Tigasin Triathlon.
Other activities in the Pistay Dayat are search for Limgas na Pangasinan, Sand Sculpting Competition, Paragliding event, and Philippine Beach Games, among others.
Meanwhile, Vice Governor Jose Ferdinand Z. Calimlim Jr. urged all Pangasinenses to keep uniting and continuously work together to make the sea festival successful as ever.
Pangasinan’s Pistay Dayat was first held in 1970, according to the province press information office. HILDA AUSTRIA, PNA / ABN