These students from the University of Northern Philippines (UNP) show the image of St. Paul while street dancing along the Mena Crisologo Street at the Heritage Village in Vigan City.

Vigan City — The dancing image of St. Paul the Apostle was this year's top draw during the recently concluded Vigan’s Longaniza Festival.        

An estimated one hundred thousands visitors, local and foreign tourists thronged to the main streets of the Heritage City to witness the frenzied dancing of revelers while holding aloft the image of St. Paul.

Launched in January 22, 2002, the longaniza festival became the main crowd drawer in the weeklong annual Vigan City fiesta. The festival is regularly set every 22nd of January coinciding with the celebration of Vigan regaining its cityhood after the Bigueños (Vigan residents) overwhelmingly ratified in a plebiscite  Republic Act No. 8988 – “An Act validating and recognizing the creation of the city of Vigan by the Royal Decree of September 7, 1757 issued by Fernando VI, King of Spain.

“We launched this festival because our longaniza industry, which is one of the major source of livelihoods of the local folks here, is part of the economic development of Vigan,” Mayor Eva Marie Singson – Medina said.

To promote the garlic-rich sausages, a streetdancing competition participated in by different contingents from local government units and schools in the Ilocos and Cordillera region is held annually.

According to Mayor Medina,  this year’s edition of longaniza festival is unique in the sense that the city's patron saint - Saint Paul, became part of the dancing.

“A new attraction in this year’s longaniza festival was the use of an icon of Saint Paul, our patron saint, in the streetdancing presentation. Each participating  contingent in the streetdancing had one member, who held the image of Saint Paul while dancing,” Mayor Medina explained.

“This year, we strengthened the religious commemoration by incorporating the churh hymn, San Pablo Kamang ti Ili with the longaniza streetdancing festival,” she added.

The inclusion of the image of St. Paul in the street dancing is city's  way of celebrating its patron saint’s converstion and in dramatizing the locals' thanksgiving for the successful regaining of the cityhood of Vigan, as well as the continous existence of one of the major source of livelihood of Vigan residents – the longaniza making industry.

The champion in the children’s category was the contigent from San Nicolas, Ilocos Norte while the first prize winner in the adult category was the University of Northern Philippines (UNP) in Vigan City.