Vigan City Fiesta Is No Longer as It Used to Be
The Vigan City Fiesta is held every January 25. It is celebrated during the feast day of the conversion of St. Paul the Apostle, the patron saint of Vigan City. The Metropolitan Cathedral, Vigan’s main church is dedicated to St. Paul and it stands at the core of the Archdiocese of Nueva Segovia. The Vigan City Fiesta usually lasts for several days. Bigueños from all over the country and even abroad used to return to Vigan as it is the custom of Filipinos to join their family and friends in the celebration of their fiesta. Many visitors usually come from other parts of the Philippines to see and enjoy the cultural shows, parades, and dances prepared by the local government and communities. There were food fairs, arts and crafts exhibits. However, Vigan City Fiesta is not the same as the past years due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Due to the current surge of Covid-19 cases in the City
and through the Vigan City Inter-Agency Task Force for Covid-19, the Vigan City
Fiesta is POSTPONED. if it’s not because of the pandemic, on the very first
week of January, the amusement park during Vigan City Fiesta has already been
prepared and functioning. Many used to go for the rides like a roller coaster,
Ferris wheel, horse carousel, and many more. Others enjoy Carnival games. Some
were also excited to enter horror, mermaid, and snake person booths. There were
many entertainment shows to enjoy. The street vendors sold and earned more
during those times.
This year with the new normal, Vigan City Fiesta
Celebration is no longer like before. Maybe, there will still be some
entertainment shows but many people will be afraid to go and enjoy especially
those who are not vaccinated. I think that they will set limitations to respect
social distancing. There will be health protocols to follow like wearing masks
and face shields. There will also be a possibility that they will only allow
the vaccinated to enter. There will be no more parades like before that all
pupils, students, and workers from different sectors in Vigan City joined.
These restrictions are due to increasing cases of Covid-19 in our province.
There will be lesser visitors to come, not just of the fear of being infected
but there is an additional expense in going to other places because they have
to undergo an antigen test or present an RT-PCR test with a negative result
before entering provincial borders. Thus, this time of the pandemic, Vigan City
earns less from tourism. Many businesses have also stopped operating. For now,
we don’t even know when we can celebrate Vigan City Fiesta especially since
Ilocos Sur is included in Level 3 Alert until January 31, 2022.
Vigan City Fiesta is no longer as it used to but these
times, what’s more, important to us is being healthy. It is our responsibility
to follow health protocols to prevent the widespread of the virus. We should be
considerate enough and protect each other’s health. We should get vaccinated
and take Vitamin C to boost our immunity. Get enough sleep and eat nutritious
foods. In short, let’s be healthy to celebrate more fiestas in the future. We
should have patience, pray and do our best for the good of all.
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