Town fiesta's 'palanyag'

Balloon man … this balloon man happens by at the town’s recreational park by the sea and captivates the fancy of these five children, who have fallen in line for their turn to get their hands on one of the cute, funny-looking  floaters he is selling. The balloon vendor was doing a brisk sale as the recent town fiesta of Jose Panganiban drew near. Of course, along with this balloon man came many tent-stores, known locally as “palanyags” (see pictures below) to cash in on the October 6-7 festivities, a religious event that normally draws thousands of devotees from all over the province of CamNorte. In fact, palanyags are usually one of  the main draws in every town fiesta in Bicol Region. They would set up camp at the town’s public plaza or along the main street several days before the day of the feast, with the operators crossing their fingers for a windfall of a sale from the fiesta-goers. – MWBuzzpics by GLENNJOY TABOADA/text by AP HERNANDEZ

Meryenda na kayo … of course, not to be outdone were the cheap-food-and-refreshment entrepreneurs – translation: Turo-turo, Nana Karing, Sa-Malamig, pondahan, Karen D’Rea, halo-haluan, goto-lugawan, esnakan … the list goes on – who also wanted to grab a piece of the action during the fiesta. In fact, they came out in full force just a day or two before the Big Day and set up their stakes along the inner road stretching between the town hall and the public market section, right across the famous lair of halo-halo parlor Evia’s, to serve the hungry and thirsty "mamimyesta". This is a free country … we can give you a hell of competition with our own concoctions of gulaman and sago, the operators would say. – MWBuzzpic by GLENNJOY TABOADA/text by AP HERNANDEZ