It's been a popular saying here that if want to know every city and municipality here in Negros, you don't need to travel in each places around the Island. In fact, there's one place here in Bacolod City that can offer it to you by just looking around for two hours. And, it's here in Panaad Park!
This is where the home of Panaad sa Negros which is celebrated annually, usually around the month of April. Here's a little background of what is Panaad sa Negros and why it is celebrated in the whole island.
According to Wikipedia, Panaad is the Hiligaynon word for "vow" or "promise" coming from the root-word saad; the festival is a form of thanksgiving to Divine Providence and commemoration of a vow in exchange for a good life. The celebration is held at the Panaad Park, which also houses the Panaad Stadium, and is participated in by the 13 cities and 19 towns of the province. For this reason, the province dubs it the "mother" of all its festivals.
Last week was the celebration of the Festival and everyone were too busy going around and out of the city to visit the park, and see what it has to offer. Some popular bands played there like the Rivermaya and December Avenue, yet I didn't watch since transportation is limited in the place at night. Carnival Rides were setup before the entrance of the park, also every city and municipality have products, foods, and beverages to offer to the visitors.
It would be surely fun to come and look around the park, but the hot weather were keeping me at home. At the same time, it was the one who pushed me to go there just to have ice cream, iced coffee, and some foods because I was hungry and all alone at home.
Years have passed that I haven't gone here, yet the there isn't much changes here except for the crowd brought by the Festival. The first replica building you'll see when you enter the park is the Government center of Bacolod City, as it is the capital of Negros Occidental.
There wines, liquor, foods, artworks, and other products which is native in Bacolod.
Here are some artworks of landmarks and places in Bacolod, such as the San Sebastian Cathedral, Public Plaza, Baywalk, the county at the outskirts, and many more.
I passed through the back of Bacolod's replica and exited in a path facing the replica of Silay City, where the airport resides. They're not offering product or foods outside but there were still lots of people going here to take pictures. I'm not sure if they were offering something inside the building and everyone was welcomed to come in, yet my thirsty throat was craving for an Iced Coffee at the moment.
I was looking for food and Iced Coffee everytime I passed by in every city's replica but most of them were only serving Oysters and Chicken Barbeque. I'm not surprised at all since these foods are common, it's Bacolod claiming that they have the best.
Fresh seafoods were also sold here and other districts which was located near the shoreline.
I heard from people that there was a Cosplay and ML Contest earlier. I even spotted some cosplayers wandering around the park. Local live bands were starting on the other side.
I finally found a stall that sells coffee, but in a crowded food court. The queue were long in each stall, and thankfully, it wasn't that long in that store, so I had immediately placed my order and pay for it.
I ordered the biggest size to surely satisfy my cravings. Lol. They also have halo-halo, fruit shakes, native coffee, and iced coffee but I went for Coffee Jelly instead. Just missed this drink, I haven't seen it here for a while.
As I said earlier, most of the places here offers Chicken Barbeque and Oysters, and it wasn't exciting to see it anymore at you have it here everyday and everywhere if you want. So, I looked for something different here at food court. There were Tacos, Pizza, Crabs, and Shrimps. Yet, I can't go with seafood since I have allergies with Shrimps and crabs, and I don't have my Anti-histamine with me.
Passed by in a bargain cart, they were selling assorted items for Php 10.00 each. Tempting enough, I bought 2 Rosary bracelets, 1 pack of rubber bands, 1 pack of hair ties, and a nailcutter 'cause I couldn't find the one I bought before in my room. It came to buy 2 bracelets, one for me and one for my baby girl. Somehow, I just want to remind myself to be good everytime.
As the clock striked 6:00 pm, I looked for an exit. On my way out, I encountered these Cosplayers. Actually, I don't recognize the anime characters they dressed for. I just find them cute, haha! But I saw Demon Slayer characters wandering around the park earlier, like Rengoku, Gio, and Tanjiro.
I couldn't stay longer since most jeepneys would be full at that hour and it would be a struggle to catch a ride home. Overall, it was like another way for me to unwind and have some Me Time.
All photos are mine unless stated otherwise. Thank you for reading!