In accordance with the Philippine Leaf (Live Entertainment, Festival, and Fashion) Awards' goals to monitor and recognize events all over the country, one of the award-giving body's founders Frank G. Rivera took an early trip to Laguna Province last week to watch and examine the merits of the 2024 Anilag Festival.
Being a Lagunense himself, Frank, an internationally renowned theater, television, film, and social media artist, wanted to personally experience watching and judging objectively the merits of the festival for its qualification for the 2025 Leaf Awards.
As a native of Paete, he even requested and egged on the organizer last year to submit a video of the fest for this year's awarding but to no avail.
So, Rivera took the initiative to pay Sta. Cruz, Laguna a visit where the bulk of the activities were done.
In his socmed territories, Frank, a prizewinning artist, posted his Anilag visit: "Sunday afternoon under the heat of the 3 o'clock sun, CJ Andaluz and I went around the booths at the ANILAG Festival, Sta. Cruz, Laguna.
"Here we are in front of the Paete booth, of course!" he chuckled.
Frank was also a member of the board of judges in the street dance competition.
In Anilag, Rivera bumped into his town's young councilors, Joshua Ryan Alvarez and Florence Jude Cadawas, and briefly, they talked about arts and culture in their respective turfs.
Lopez, Quezon artist Ching Danseco was also a member of the contest jury.
Meanwhile, the Anilag Festival was also the right time for Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) President Michelle Nikki Junia to personally witness the event as part of her advocacy and encouragement to enhance the arts and culture at the grassroots.
"It's an honor to get invited to Anilag which is a pride of all Lagunenses including me," said Michelle Nikki who hails from San Pedro, Laguna.
Junia was with Rene Napenas, the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) publicist, and other regional arts and culture leaders.
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