10th GenSan's Tuna Festival

Going to work this afternoon, I had to walk a hundred meters to get to my work place. The roads were closed. The local government employees and the rest of the city's constituents were gathered in preparation for the parade. The festive mood all over the place can be felt by everyone. This is to signal the start of the 10th Tuna Festival here in General Santos City. This is in commemoration of the City's 40th Charter Anniversary. The festival's culmination will be on September 5 and it has been declared a local legal holiday. This year's theme is: A decade of fish-tivities and oppor-Tuna-ties

I had fun watching the formal opening salvo. True to its theme, an ethno-jazz dance competition was conducted which was divided into three (3) categories: elementary, city government employees and high school categories respectively. Various interpretations to the song "Dire Ta Sa Gensan" (a Cebuano song encouraging people to visit GenSan) were presented by the different performers.

Gensan is hailed as the Philippines Tuna Capital. The vast source of the country's overall revenue comes from the city's prosperous tuna industry. The tuna industry also provided employment to at least 100, 000 Generals (a term called for people inahabiting GenSan).

The festival's opening ceremony ended with a fabulous fireworks display. The grandest display I have seen thus far!