ROXAS CITY — “One Visayas, One People, One Destiny,” the four-day festival highlighting the arts and culture of Regions 6, 7 and 8 in the Visayas held in this city was capped by a ten-minute fireworks display Sunday. Hosted by Capiz Governor Victor A. Tanco, Sr., both participants and spectators were one in lauding the festival’s success.

The festival was the second gathering of local government units (LGUs) in the Visayan regions. The first One Visayas was held in Cebu City last year.

Themed heroes and nationalism, this year's One Visayas arts and culture gathering was focused on uniting three regions as one people, sharing one destiny.

Staged during the event were cultural shows featuring popular folk dances in the provinces of each.

There was also a garden show, historically-themed events and exhibits of arts and crafts and the sale of food and delicacies all through the festival.

One of the most notable historical displays in this year’s One Visayas was a vintage cannon from Bago City, Negros Occidental which awed spectators with a fireworks display depicting the cannon as a symbolic weapon of freedom used by Negrenses against Spanish colonizers.

Negros Occidental’s famed pastries and delicacies, such as piaya, Manapla puto, dulce gatas, fresh vegetable and ubod lumpia, butterscotch, among others, sold like hotcakes throughout the four-day event.

Other best sellers in the exhibits were miniature bonsais made of gem stones; hand-woven sinamay barongs; Guimaras province’s world-famous mangoes; fancy costume jewelry made of indigenous materials from Cebu, among many others.

There were also nightly film showings and daily demonstration on cooking foods indigenous to each of the regions as well as on production skills and livelihood endeavors.

Present during the event were Eastern Samar Governor Ben Evardone; Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas; Southern Leyte Governor Damian Mercado; Siquijor Mayor Richard Quezon; Guimaras Governor Felipe Nava; Leyte Governor Carlos Jericho Petilla; Samar Governor Milagros Tan; Antique Governor Salvacion Z. Perez, who also concurrently Chairs the Region 6 Development Council; Roxas City  Mayor Vicente Bermejo and Capiz Governor Tanco.

Administration presidential candidate, Gilbert Teodoro, was one of the honored guests in the event.