Festivals in Negros Island are amazing! This year my tourist guide group (ATON) was able to visit E.B. Magalona to take part in their fourth Ugyonan Festival!
E.B. Magalona (Formerly known as Saravia) is famous for its seafood especially the Blue swimmer crabs ( Portunus Armatus) which are pasteurized, canned and exported for its meat. E.B. Magalona is part of Fishing Region VI: Visayan Sea, Guimaras Strait, Iloilo Strait and Panay Gulf. In 2012, over 412 metric tons of Crab was harvested from this region alone, making this region the top producer of Blue Swimmer Crab
The Ugyonan Sea Food Festival had many events. They held their first culinary competition in which blue crabs were the main ingredient.
One of the festival highlight is a grand buffet of Seafood held in front of their municipal Hall. The first part took place on December 7, 2019 and the second part will take place today (December 8!)
The venue and the food festival was amazing! A big part of the plaza was converted into a dining area with tents, grilling areas and food stations. Everything was well lit and the event was very well organized. Everyone who went had a drink and food to eat. There were even tablecloths and sturdy plastic chairs too! It was surprisingly well organized. People lined up, there was no pushing, cutting in line. If you want to organize a big party such as this, Ask the organizers of E.B. Magalona. This is the PROPER way to do it!
Guests lined up and you were assisted by the friendly staff who gave you whatever you wanted. If you finished what was on your plate, you are welcome to return and ask for more.
Here’s what the buffet looked like.
There was all you can eat shrimp and barbecued mussels…
The specialty of E.B. Magalona – The Blue swimmer Crab or Alimasag. These were served with a spicy vinegar. So delicious and fresh!
Fried, breaded squid – popularly known as Calamares. These were so good -they were cooked fresh and the taste is absolutely heavenly. It really makes a difference when seafood is freshly caught!
Oysters!! All freshly cooked and ready to be eaten.
Grilled Bangus or Milkfish!
Mayor Marvin Malacon and the organizers of the Ugoyan Seafood festival really did a FANTASTIC job. There was a lot of food, everyone had enough to eat, everything was well organized, and the people and staff were so friendly. There was a live band, well- lighted tents and there were even portable toilets. If you’re thinking of going – Please do! We highly recommend this seafood festival. If you can head down to E.B. Magalona, the last day of the Seafood festival is tonight (December 8). If you can’t make it, set aside time to visit this amazing Festival next year! This is really a tourism friendly event and this will really go well with your foreign visitors and guests!
Relevant Pages:
http://www.ebmagalona.gov.ph/
https://www.facebook.com/Ugyonan-Seafood-Festival-101879841279744/
The Bacolod Food Hunters 
Hopefully enough left in the seas to produce the next generation of crustaceans!
Too small!
Wouldn’t be allowed in most countries!
Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.