TANDUAY Distillers, Inc. and the City Government of Bacolod are set to stage the Bacolod Rum Festival tomorrow, August 10, a grand feast that started in 2019 to pay homage to the city’s sugarcane industry and the main source for Tanduay’s award-winning rums.
The now-yearly event will transform the Bacolod City Government Center (BCGC) into a venue filled with food, music, and of course, rum.
“On this same ground, my father, Lucio K. Tan Jr., together with Bacolod City Councilor Em Ang, announced the inception of the Tanduay Bacolod Rum Festival,” said Lucio Tan III, President, LT Group and Tanduay Distillers, Inc., during a press conference at the Century Park Hotel in Pasay City. “The festival was born out of a desire to ensure that Bacolod, the City of Smiles, remains the heart and home of Tanduay. That wherever Tanduay goes, Bacolod will always be a part of its story.”
“What’s remarkable about this collaboration is that we are able to tell the story of Bacolod and Tanduay by highlighting their culinary heritage and the artistic prowess of the Bacolodnon, whether in cocktail-making, painting, music, or dance. That, in essence, is what this Rum Festival is all about,” Tan added.
On the part of the local government, Ang said Bacolod considers the drink as part of its culture. Tanduay Rum, for so many years, is mainly produced in the city and should be given the recognition it deserves.
“We have a festival practically every month as part of our tourism development and promotion goals for the city and the Province of Negros Occidental, and that urged us organizing and starting the Bacolod Rum Festival,” Ang said. “As Mr. Tan said that Bacolod is the heart and home of Tanduay Rum which we hope it remains that way for years to come and we are proud to be part of it being the number one rum brand in the world.”
A festival of food, music, and rum
The Bacolod Rum Festival will commence tomorrow, August 10, with a motorcade heading to the BCGC where Mayor Albee Benitez and other local government officials are expected to participate in the ribbon-cutting ceremonies of the Food Park. It will be open to the public until August 18 and will feature nightly entertainment, local and international culinary delights, and mixology.
Talented bartenders will take the stage on August 12 at the Ayala Malls Capitol Center to battle it out in the Mixology Competition hosted by Tanduay, and the chosen few will put their skills to the test at the nationwide grand finals of the Mixology Competition at the Seda Hotel on August 16.
Also happening on August 16 is the Rum Education Day with a Tanduay Plant Tour followed by a Rum Masterclass.
Then, various restaurants will compete in the Culinaria Competition on August 14 and 15 to come up with the most unique dish for the festival using rum as the key ingredient.
On the grand celebration night of the festival, a motorcade parade will take place on the afternoon of August 17 featuring some of Bacolod’s beauty queens and Tanduay Brand Ambassador Derek Ramsay.
It will be followed by a Street Dance Competition and a concert at the BCGC to be headlined by Juan Karlos Band and Filipino hip hop group Allmost.