Welcome to Our Town Fiesta! Enjoying The Day Amidst The Pandemic

A fiesta is more than just a common party, it's a celebration. It is a day for people to gather together to thank God for the blessings he has given over the past year.

April 26, 2022

With the last Tuesday of April falling on the 26th this year, it's time to celebrate our town fiesta.

Every year, our town celebrates its fiesta with great joy and festivity. The fiesta feels like the best day of the year, with all those bright lights and decorations everywhere, and the food smells just incredible. And when we were kids, we'd spend all day playing around the plaza or taking turns on that huge slide until we got dizzy.

Our fiesta starts from sunrise to sunset and during these times, there are various activities prepared for the visitors. The celebration starts at 7:00 in the morning, with a mass to honor the patron saint of our town. Then, the whole town participates in a parade around the plaza. The band is playing lively music and we dance as we parade around the plaza. Even foreigners are caught up in the spirit of the fiesta, and join us in dancing along to the music! People come from all over to participate in this colorful event.

There are several activities during the fiesta day such as sports competitions like basketball, volleyball, fun bike, beauty pageant contest, cockfighting; band parade; street dancing contest and many others. There are also games like "patintero", "luksong-tinik", "piko" and other traditional Filipino games that offer cash prizes. Aside from these games, there is also Zumba dance that everyone can join. There are also stalls selling different kinds of foods ranging from local delicacies to fast food chains. There is also an exhibit which features some products made by our local entrepreneurs here in our town. These are the activities during the past years before the pandemic.

However, our town fiesta will be celebrated in a simple way compared from previous years. Because of the pandemic, we had to cancel a lot of things at first. No more nightly dance competitions or beauty pageants; no more merchant booths selling all kinds of things; no more street food vendors with sweet corn on a stick covered with mayonnaise and cheese (my personal favorite). And no more picnics in the park.

Today is the first time to have our visitors again since the pandemic. We want them to feel welcomed and to enjoy their stay here in our town. I have noticed only a few people are out and about walking around today. I can’t help but wonder why. Could it be that the pandemic has made people afraid of going out? Or is it because of the heat of the sun that makes people stay in their homes?

Well, we can’t really blame them. With so much fear and caution lately, all we want to do is to be safe from getting sick. And with the heat outside, there really isn’t much reason to go out.

It would be nice to see people enjoying themselves after being stuck at home for so long. But as I look around and see no one in sight except me, it makes me realize that we still have a long way to go before we can consider ourselves free from this pandemic.

In Conclusion

The town fiesta has always been a big deal in our town. It's been around since I was a little boy. It’s has always been a time of celebration—a happy time of family and friends, dancing and parades and food. It's my favorite event in our town every year.

But this year, there's something missing. The feeling is gone, I guess you could say. It just doesn't feel the same anymore. I'm not sure what's going to happen next year and beyond, but I'm glad the fiesta is happening today: I don't know what I'd do if it didn't happen at all.

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