Sun, sand, music and mangroves at the SarBay Festival

JUST LIKE its tasty tuna which has tickled the world’s palate, South Cotabato’s Sarangani Bay will sizzle once more with the SarBay Festival, the country’s biggest beach party and sports and wellness event, set on June 3-5 in Gumasa Beach in Glan.

Sand art Saranggani Bay

Now on its 10th year, the festival will kickoff with the Swim Across the Bay Cross Channel Team Swim from Maasim to Glan, a 15-kilometer relay race which is among Asia’s most extreme swimming races. The General Santos City-based Dadiangas Torpedoes team will defend its back-to-back title against other challengers from Mindanao.

This will be followed by the Sarbay Bancarera, which will display the skills of boatmen and fishermen in maneuvering their fishing boats.

Sarangani governor Steve Solon

Art takes center stage in the Pinta sa Baybayon body painting contest, and an inter-municipality Sand Sculpture Competition.

The evening will feature the Bay Bodies 2016 tilt, a beauty contest for both men and women, while the Talk and Text-sponsored Foam Party will wrap up the night featuring the duo of Natalia Moon and Luane de Lima, also known as DJ Lunatics.

Swim across the bay

Day two begins with the SarBay Swim-Bike-Run for the Environment, a triathlon which will test the mettle of the local “Iron Men.”

Both days will also see beach volleyball, football, skim boarding, and Ultimate Frisbee competitions, fire dancing exhibitions, and Zumba with the Legendz, Gen. Santos City’s home-grown league of dance instructors.

Zumba in Gumasa

The day draw to a close with an evening concert-party featuring Franco, Cathy Frey, Jennifer Lee, Ron Poe and Italo, rocking the night away.

The third day will be devoted to clean up activities and environmental projects such as mangroves and tree planting. Five non-government organizations are joining the I Love Clean SarBay program this year to help maintain the ecological balance of the Bay’s coastal ecosystem.

SarBay Fest cleanup

Sarangani Provincial Tourism Council president Michelle Lopez-Solon said that this year’s edition is themed #SarbayEvolution to celebrate the innovations it has embraced through the years, most notably its advocacy for environmental sustainability.

She said that this year’s edition aims to surpass last year which attracted some 126,000 guests, the most in its nine-year history.

The SarBay Fest is organized by the Provincial Tourism Council and supported the Provincial Government, the Department of Tourism Region 12 and the Municipality of Glan.