You may as well call it the country’s definitive a beach party.
For the past decade, tens of thousands of party people from all over the archipelago have been trooping to southern Mindanao for the Sarangani Bay (SarBay) Festival, the country’s biggest beach party.
And just like the Bay’s mouth-watering tuna which have found their way to the world’s plate, this long stretch of white in Gumasa Beach in Glan sizzled once more in the event’s 11th installment, but with a unique twist.
Themed #SarbayEvolution, this year’s version celebrated the innovations it has embraced through the years, most notably its advocacy for environmental sustainability.
Sarangani First Lady and Provincial Tourism Council President Michelle Lopez-Solon said this year’s edition was more than the usual beach party, which, more often than not, harms the coastal ecosystem. She said that the third day of SarBay was devoted to coastal clean up activities and environmental projects.
Five civic organizations joined “I Love Clean SarBay,” the program this year to help maintain the ecological balance of the Bay’s coastal ecosystem.
Some 100,000 bangus (milkfish) fingerlings were released into the Bay after the two-day festival in cooperation with Spectrum, Conrado-Ladislawa-Alcantara Foundation Inc. and Smart Communications.
Still part of this year’s environmental advocacy is the e-trash bag given as part of the environmental fee given upon entrance. Every kilogram of gathered garbage submitted by every person has an equivalent token given by SarBay corporate partners Globe, Talk N’ Text, 2Go, and Coca-Cola.
The Bay Bodies 2016 will turn on the evening heat as babes and hunks strut down the catwalk in their swimwear, while the Talk and Text-sponsored Foam Party wrapped up the first night featuring the sultry duo of Natalia Moon and Luane de Lima known as DJ Lunatics.
Day Two began with the SarBay Swim-Bike-Run for the Environment, a triathlon which tested the mettle of the local “Iron Men”.
Both days included beach volleyball and football, skim boarding, Ultimate Frisbee Competition, fire dancing exhibitions, and Zumba with the Legendz, Gen. Santos City’s home-grown league of dance instructors.
Curtains closed with a Globe Telecoms-hosted evening party with deejays Cathy Frey, Jennifer Lee, Ron Poe and Italo, and Franco band rocking the night away.
Local stakeholders also launched the cruise tour of the Bangsi Watercraft Service which sailed around the coastal towns around Sarangani Bay.
Once a best-kept tourist secret, Gumasa has become one of the country’s most sought-after getaways because of its unspoiled talcum sand, minus the madding crowd of popular beaches.
A Best Tourism Event Awardee from the Association of Tourism Officers in the Philippines for several years now, SarBay Fest is organized by the Provincial Tourism Council and supported the Provincial Government, the Department of Tourism Region 12 and the Municipality of Glan.