Concluding summer with a smack of Sarbay Fest 2016

The Sarangani Bay Festival has redefined summer. With just a week before classes officially starts, people have other thing in mind by flocking to Glan and experience the biggest and grandest beach festival in the country and extended summer to at least a couple more days.

  

  

I was lucky I made it this year after skipping the event last year. Once again, thanks to a very good friend from San Miguel Brewery, Inc. Meggy Macion for including me into the list of your selected personalities to accompany you in that getaway last June 3-4. Rounding off the members during that impressive weekend outing were Ian Garcia of M Magazine, Maya Padillo of Mindanao Daily Mirror, Vancouver-based writer Mark Guzman and Edge Davao Photographer Tats Daval.   

Unlike the previous festivities, this year’s Sarbay Fest was visited by fewer audience which to me a very good development. Organizers inserted a noble component to the festival which is to conserve Sarangani Bay, a declared Protected Area through its hash tag #ilovecleansarbay and the buy-and-plant-a-mangrove initiative. The advocacy was further reinforced with the collection of Environmental User’s Fee worth 30 pesos each. The money will be utilized for rehabilitation efforts afterwards like coastal clean-up.

We arrived in late afternoon of Day 1 as we still had to visit an equally interesting destination in Manilay Heritage House in General Santos City. We stayed overnight in Gumasa at Coco Beach Resort.

There were several activities highlighting Sarbay Fest this year such as beach volleyball, triathlon, sand sculpture competition, skim boarding competition, to name  a few. The search for Bay Bodies ’16 highlighted the first evening, as well as the foam party with the famous DJ Lunatics.  

Although we did not witness all activities, our team had some great moments witnessing the Bay Bodies contest, enjoying foods in the party site and some fair conversation over bottles of San Miguel Pale Pilsen and San Mig Light. San Miguel Brewery is one of the major sponsors of Sarbay Fest this year.

On the second day Meggy brought us to a cruise experience through Bangsi 1, a Sarangani Bay sail package featuring the beautiful seascape of Glan. It also allowed us to witness the other attractions of the place which includes the panoramic Sarangani mountain range, the towering Mt. Matutum, the perspective of Balut Island and some resort structures along the beach lines of Glan. Somehow, Bangsi 1 Cruise is a new product that will be very viable in the future and will augment alternative activity for Sarbay Fest visitors.

One thing is certain, Sarbay Fest has become one of the country’s most-sought after festivals especially since it is situated in a secluded beach lines with powdery white-sand features. And I am glad the local government of Sarangani has seen the importance of creating balance between mass tourism and environmental conservation.