MANILA, Philippines - As the Negros Trade Fair celebrates 28 years of existence and success, it comes back to where it all began – Makati City.
It was in 1985 that the first trade fair, then known as The House of Negros trade fair, was held at the then Quad Carpark beside the Manila Garden Hotel. Since then it has movedto larger venues that could accommodate its fast growing participation and patronage.
This year, the Negros Trade Fair opens at the Glorietta Mall Activity Center, where visitors can enjoy more convenient parking, wider aisles, and the overall larger venue which can accommodate even more outlets.
For those who would want to get more information about the province, a tourist pavilion will be set up where the provincial government and some of the cities will have information desks. Lastly, there will be credit card terminals in strategic areas.
And, oh yes, when you come to the trade fair, bring your reusable shopping bags. Again, in line with the new awareness of ecology and environment, the association and the trade fair would like to do their share to contribute to saving our environment.
Some of the special events at the trade fair are:
It’s Raining Men!
On Sept. 25 (Wednesday) at noon, famous Ilonggo male chefs like JP Anglo of Mushu and Manny Torrejon of Manolo’s, Gerald Montelibano, Fernando Aracama of Aracama, Tom Bascon, and Richard Ynayan will each cook a dish using a Negros food product and come up with a “Negros food with a twist†repertoire. Every table will be styled using Negros products. The food will be served by the students of Institute of Culinary Arts of La Salle Bacolod. Limited seats. For tickets, email evolvinglifestyles@gmail.com.
Arte Negrense Fashion Show
Walking down the ramp will be Negrense matriarchs along with the younger generations in the latest fashion designs, ranging from hand-made smocked children’s dresses to fashion accessories. Sept. 26 (Thursday) at 6 p.m.
Tea Time with Ikebana International. The Ikebana International Manila Chapter will do an Ikebana demonstration with flora and foliage from the Tagaytay-based Flower Farm, of fellow Silaynon Ging Severino delos Reyes and vases from Negros producers. Sept. 27 (Friday) at 3 p.m.
Sabrina’s Kitchen Marathon
A cooking demonstration using a variety of ingredients from Negros producers to be hosted by Ilongga Sabrina Artadi of the popular TV cooking show, Sabrina’s Kitchen. The second leg of Sabrina’s cooking marathon is the concoction of cocktails and mocktails using various McCormick flavoring selection. Sept. 28 (Saturday) at 2 p.m.
Six Degrees
A group of young creative photographers will show how everyone has just six degrees of separation from each other. The photographers will take pictures of the patrons at the trade fair and display them on panels. Using strings, connections will be made from the pictures of people to others who they know or may be related to. The result will be a complex web of beautiful string art mixed with creative photography. Be a part of this cool social experiment and see just how many people you can connect to!
(Check their link: http://thelightswitch.us/88252/1585253/selected-projects/6-degrees-interactive-exhibit-by-the-lightswitch )
Ilonggo Art
The works of two homegrown Ilonggo artists – Hinojales-Jomalesa and Rodney Martinez – will be on show.
Jomalesa was born and raised in Bacolod City. Her training in art started in 2010 when she attended a class in basic oil painting under Pie Saturnino. Bitten by the art bug, she attended a course in Landscape and Modern Art using acrylics under Donna Baron in Maryland, and continued with other courses. Her passions are math, travel, food, and of course art, but her true calling is teaching, which she fulfills by managing ATVH ART, an art workshop center for children.
Martinez has been painting for more than 50 years, and learned under famed Filipino masters Galo Ocampo, Victorio Edades and Cenon Rivera.
In 1975 he helped organize the Art Association of Bacolod. He has successfully mounted more than 15 one-man shows, and was awarded as the Most Outstanding Alumni by his two alma maters, UST and La Consolacion College in Bacolod.
His subjects are women, vendors, the environment, family, and fishes and birds. He has been chided by other artists as a “pretty-pretty†artist since his works don’t show any social relevance, but he has remained true to his art form and stuck to the themes that he is most passionate about.