The winning tribe of the Guimaras Manggahan Festival cultural presentation will perform for the first time in Madison Ave., New York in the US during the 120th Philippine Independence Day celebration on June 3.

In an interview yesterday, Guimaras tourism officer Liberty Ferrer said they will bring to the US 29 student-performers of the Hubon Manguguma of the Manggahan Festival and 10 officials from the province of Guimaras.

The group will have a series of performances in Washington DC, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. While in the US, they will have street dancing and cultural performances showcasing Western Visayas dances.

Hubon Manguguma was the champion of the 2018 Kasadyahan Festival of the Dinagyang Festival and first runner-up in this year’s Aliwan Fiesta.

“That will be a bigger promotion for tourists who will come to Guimaras and the whole of Western Visayas,” she said.

At present, she said, foreign tourists account for about 2 percent to five percent of the arrivals in Guimaras, while a big chunk are domestic tourists coming from Western Visayas.

The Guimaras delegation was invited by the Philippine Independence Day Council. They will leave on May 31 and expected to return on June 10.

Meanwhile, they are now working on their letter of intent for the province to also hold a trade mission alongside their cultural performance.

The letter was already endorsed by the regional office of the Department of Tourism to their central office, which in turn will refer it to the New York Department of Tourism. (PNA)