A CONFUSION in the official schedule of activities in the annual fiesta of Victorias City proved a remarkable turn, after members of the city's LGBT community sashayed in a night of fashion and glamour, claiming their spot as the true "Knights and Fairies" in this year's Kadalag-an Festival.
The highly anticipated festival of the "Sweet Green City" has gathered stars and limelight personalities and entertainers to pull off a strong line up of activities this year. This, including actress Arci Muñoz in a gig with her bandmates and socialite Isabelle Daza, hosting the search for its festival queen.
More than fitting to conclude a grand fiesta, the Vice Mayor's Office of Jerry Jover in partnership with its locality's LGBT community, claimed the spotlight last Wednesday night during the first staging of "Knight and Fairies," an event geared towards promoting the rights and advocacies of the city's LGBT community.
It was a friendly competition among gays and lesbians who proved themselves to be good ramp models in various areas: playsuit, formal and evening gown. A talent portion was among the highlights of the night, with gay contestants outwitting one another in impersonations while the "gents," all of them dashing and manly, sharing their advocacies on LGBT rights during the Q and A rounds.
It was different kind of pageantry that highlights the openness and appreciation of the locality in the contributions of its LGBT members through recognizing significant personalities from various fields of endeavors.
Dr. Ariel Patrick Dionara, a significant name in outreach and medicine was ranked as among this year's achievers. The company doctor served many years of his career life in taking care of the poor and needy and as the same time an "epitome of holding the LGBT community together through recognizable partnerships with the government and the private sector."
Larry Carumba, a sought after visual artist abroad, was also on the Honor’s List. He is enlisted as among the topnotch painters in Saudi Arabia, earning him various distinctions because of his passion and dedication to his craft. He was named Bagong Bayani for Culture and the Arts in 2014 courtesy of the Bagong Bayani Foundation.
His artworks are displayed in the glamorous walls of international companies and Saudi princesses and art socialites in many countries around the world including the United States of America and Greece. His exhibitions proved to be blockbuster hits abroad as he elaborates his art through detailed and beautiful pieces, mainly focusing on "neat use of realism." A true pride of Victorias City, he is a product of Don Bosco Technical Institute and later on studied in the University of St. La Salle, hurdling Business Management.
Senior Police Officer 2 Antonietta Loraez and Alexader Arucan, a famed hairdresser, make-up artist and a rightful queen to many crowns in his younger days were among the award recipients this year.
Indeed, beyond the glitz and glamour usually associated to pageants of this kind, it was an occasion that lifts the role of LGBT members in Victorias City as among the primary contributors of making it a place that fosters relationships and openness to "personalities of many colors."
"Kadalag-an," after all, means achieving and winning, and like family, it also points out that "no one should ever be left behind," especially during grand celebrations.