Iloilo City all set for 'grand' Chinese New Year celebration
As more Ilonggos want to take a bite of “tikoy” (a Chinese delicacy), Mayor Jerry Treñas will request the members of the Filipino-Chinese community selling the food item for a sufficient supply during the food festival on Thursday.
Treñas said he will ask the Chinese businessmen selling “tikoy” to prepare large quantity of the food stuff to accommodate Ilonggo buyers. His request was in response to the clamor of Ilonggos on the non-availability of “tikoy” in last year’s Chinese New Year celebration. As early as 6 in the evening, kiosks selling tikoy ran out of stock.
Tikoy or Nian gao gains popularity among Ilonggos since the city government exerted effort in joining the Filipino-Chinese community here in the New Year celebration. Tikoy is known as the Chinese New Year pudding made of glutinous rice flour, wheat starch, salt, water and sugar. The color of the sugar used in making the pudding determines its color; it is either white or brown.
Tikoy is only one of the food items to be made available during the food festival initiated by the Iloilo Hotels Restaurant and Resorts Association (IHRRA) on Thursday which is the highlight of the Chinese New Year celebration. This year, which is the the year of the Ox, the Chinese community will have a grand celebration to be held at the Iloilo Freedom Grandstand in order to accommodate more people.
For the past six years, the celebration was held at the Calle Real along Iznart - JM Basa streets dubbed as the Chinese district. Old Chinese stores selling different items are located along these streets.
This year’s New Year celebration is much bigger compared to the previous years as another Chinese association joins the celebration. The Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry added to the list of the Chinese associations in Iloilo which expressed their interest in joining the celebration.
The Federation of Chinese Chamber of Commerce in Panay and the Filipino Chinese Chamber of Commerce in Iloilo Inc. have been very active and supportive in the holding of the celebration headed by Reynaldo Navarro, chair of the Iloilo Chinese Filipino Cultural Association.
Treñas said the weeklong activity will culminate Thursday with cultural shows and grand parade. The parade route is from the Iloilo Provincial Capitol and will pass the streets leading to the Iloilo Freedom Grandstand. They will have Hon. Donald C.T. Lee, representative of Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Taiwan as their guest.
He added that there would also be a world class pyrotechnics display which is sponsored by the SM Group of Companies. This will give people another chance to see world class fireworks display aside from what they have seen during the Dinagyang festival. The fireworks are an integral part of the Chinese New Year celebration. The Chinese believe that the deafening explosions will scare away evil spirits and same time signifies joyful time of the year.
The mayor said the Chinese New Year celebration here is one of the biggest celebrations held outside Binondo in Manila. The Chinese New Year celebration is one of the tourism attraction of the city other than the Dinagyang, Paraw Regatta Festival and feast of the Our Lady of Candles held every 2nd of February.