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CALENDAR OF ACTIVITIES 

Festivals also attract visitors as what Ati-Atihan does in Aklan or the Kadayawan in Davao. Sports competition bring, if not visitors, Bantoanons home as what the Lenten Basketball Tournament has shown us. Cultural shows and plays have their share of patrons. Needless to say, we can add attractions by lining up events throughout the year.

The brochure presented some of the major events, the Costume Ball, Flores de Mayo, Fiesta, Biniray and Christmas celebration. We can add more excitement to these events (if they do not attract visitors, at least they would help hold Bantoanons from trooping to the city during summer and the Christmas holidays).

For example, we can institutionalize the Hanrumanan during fiesta celebrations.  We can make the local biniray more colorful by maximizing the participation of all local motorboat and banca owners. We may re-introduce, improve (marathon) and institutionalize Bugsayan (banca race) – we can even allow participation from other municipalities of the province.

We can institutionalize a ‘turnohan’ by Barangay during the Flores de Mayo. It should be fun for the teenagers – baylehan every other day. College students may even be able to invite non-Bantoanon peers or classmates in college.

Christmas celebration can be more colorful and can be added with some cultural flavor. We can revive the daigon. We can light up the town and barangays with locally-made lanterns. We can institutionalize a lantern parade and contest. A concert of Christmas Carols can easily be produced by the local educational institutions.

The Holy Week should also bring in people who want to take a retreat. If kept holy and religious – no fanfare, no banquets, drinking sprees, no partying – we can attract revelers.  We can insert some Passion plays and religious concerts. We can be a “retreat island” during the Holy Week. Of course, we can cap it with a big celebration of the Easter.

Other events can also be introduced. Actually, a resolution is now pending with the Sangguniang Bayan to declare a Cultural Heritage Week to be dedicated to the preservation of our rich cultural heritage.  During the week, we can introduce local sports competitions (lilawlilawan, bagoy, etc.) or simply skills competition (pagsurilap, pagkurkor, pagtapas et nidog, pagsug-ot). Concert of Bantoanon songs, local plays and poem-writing contests are additional activities that could spice up tourists’ visit.

What about seminars? Some concerned quarters are planning to bring the Cornelio F. Faigao Writers’ Workshop to Romblon all the way from Cebu. In 2003, and maybe thereafter, it could be in Banton. We can actively seek to host conventions, meetings, etc. Maybe the Provincial Board can be invited to meet once in a while in Banton. So does the management committee of the DECS – Division of Romblon.

Proper scheduling is of utmost importance. It should consider that this project is geared towards a continuous flow of people throughout the year rather than in just one particular period as what we do during Balik-Banton celebrations.  Overlapping of activities may cause overlapping of people.  Homecomings or reunions which are supposed to be filled with fanfare should not be scheduled during the Holy Week. If possible, Barangay homecoming should not overlap.

School and work breaks should also be considered. We can probably expect that the dry season would attract more visitors especially the months of April and May given that the sea is calm. April and May is of course summer vacation for students.  We can schedule during this period activities which will be more interesting to tourists like the cultural activities.

During semestral breaks, college students become our target market. Therefore, activities should be those that capture the interest of the students: sports, adventure and fanfare.  The Banton Municipal High School’s second semester Barn Dance could be made bigger and more accommodating to non-members/visitors. We can introduce an Earth Day Week – tree planting activities, cycling races, marathon and alay-lakad around the island which can probably be spearheaded by the Sangguniang Kabataan.

For marketing purposes, the activities for the whole year or a semester should be lined up before the period starts. The organization, barangay or private individuals sponsoring an event should notify the municipal coordinator early if it wants to be included in the tourism schedule of activities.

OTHERS

Souvenirs, for themselves or for pasalubong, complete a tourist’s visit. While attempt is being made by the Ugat-Faigao Museum & Library Novelty Store to offer souvenir items, locally-made items would be more appealing – goggles; wood carvings; miniature barotos, lansons and mayanguette and weaving  paraphernalia; things made of stones e.g. stone weights; and probably local food preserves – bukado, pakumbo and the like.

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