Niyogugan Festival Back in Quezon After Three-Year Break

The Niyogyugan Festival, Quezon province’s annual event to celebrate its coconut farmers, resumed after three-year halt, bringing in an average 20,000 tourists daily.  The 11-day long festival is part of the province’s commemoration of the birth anniversary of President Manuel L Quezon.  It was the first to be held since its last staging in 2019, after which Covid-19 pandemic cancelled all events.
Data from the Quezon provincial government showed that between 18,000 and 24,000 tourists participated in the daily activities. “Quezon is still top producing province of coconut in the entire Philippines, so we celebrate niyog (coconut). Yugyog means a celebration, to dance, and make it a lively celebration,” Quezon Provincial Tourism Officer Nesler Louies Almagro said in an interview.
Quezon Governor Angelina Tan said the province will stage another Niyogyugan in 2024.  Coconuts aside, the festival also served as an avenue to reintroduce Quezon to tourists and promote the province’s numerous destinations. She named options for tourists to visit apart from the Niyogyugan such as Lucena City, the towns of Tayabas, Lucban, Sariaya, and the Mount Banahaw.  She added that the number of destinations that are more accessible to tourists is also growing due to efforts to enhance tourism infrastructure.