The 7th BacoLaodiat Festival was another display of unity in Bacolod City where the private sector worked hand-in-hand with the local government, Bacolod Mayor Evelio Leonardia said yesterday.

It had further established the BacoLaodiat as an added attraction of Bacolod, and as a regular feature in the city’s calendar, he said.

Leonardia thanked and congratulated the BacoLaodiat Festival Organizing Committee headed by Leonito “Diotay” Lopue for the successful holding of the 7th BacoLaodiat Festival in Bacolod City.

“We saw how it has grown and saw the great number of people who joined the festival,” he said. Even the participants in the lantern dance contest had to be reduced since too many wanted to join, he added.

Leonardia said the crowd, particularly at the conclusion of the BacoLaodiat that was held at the Government Center was simply beyond their wildest expectations.

When they created BacoLaodiat seven years ago, it was comparatively modest, although it was very successful even at the start, and galvanized the unity, likewise, of the Filipino-Chinese community because it was at that time when they gathered as one regardless of chambers, organizations and family associations. And this is the result, he said.

Leonardia said “This has further strengthened our resolve to establish the BacoLaodiat as a tourist attraction, and we know that there is a very big potential for it. Next year we have to see to it that we are ahead in the way the Chinese New Year will be celebrated,” he said.

Since the President has made it a special holiday, organizers expect that in the next years, the Chinese New Year will also become one of the regular non-working holidays in the country, he said.

“Chances are other cities will also be holding their own Chinese festivals. So we want to make sure that the BacoLaodiat will always be a step ahead, compared to other cities,” Leonardia said.

He thanked all those who helped and participated in the festival, especially the people of Bacolod, he said, because, without their inspiring presence and participation during the four days that they held the festival, it would not have been a success that it wqs.*CGS

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