The 11th “Himala sa Buhangin” (miracle in sands) annual arts and music festival of Ilocos Norte province has been scheduled in mid-November instead of the summer, to entice more participants and surpass last year’s over 50,000.

The event, set for November 16-17, is expected to draw more tourists, including balikbayans who normally take their vacations during the Christmas holiday and investors.

“We hope to surpass our previous record of participants with a bigger and better Himala sa Buhangin Festival every year,” said Provincial Tourism Operations Officer Xavier Ruiz in an interview Wednesday.

Launched in 2012 through the initiative of then Governor and now Senator Imee Marcos, the festival features installations by Ilocano artists, and a variety of performances from local and national bands.

It also showcases sand sports adventures such as 4X4 racing, sand castle making, sand boarding, and beach volleyball, among others.

Every year, organizers are coming out with new activities to draw more people in the Paoay dunes, which was recently nominated as a tourism destination of the year by the Department of Tourism (DOT).

Festival organizers have worked with internationally renowned artists like Leeroy New, who constructed a large-scale installation art using indigenous materials, among them bamboo, abaca, and abel iluko textile.

Several statues inspired by popular movies that were filmed at the Paoay dunes were also unveiled in previous years, sustaining the arrival of tourists in the area until the pandemic restricted crowd gatherings.

These included the statues of Elsa, the iconic character portrayed by Nora Aunor in the 1982 film “Himala,” and Flavio, Fernando Poe Jr.’s character in “Ang Panday.”

A commemorative sculpture inspired by Temptation Island, a film about beauty queens stranded on a desert island, was also featured.

According to Ruiz, the staging of Himala continues to gain generous support from the private sector, enabling them to have a more efficient and sustainable use of resources .

For the first time, Ruiz said they will be selling tickets, priced between PHP500-PHP1,500, this year to compensate for some of the expenses.

In return, the sponsors will be given preferred seats and meals during the event.

“We are not expecting any income from this but only to compensate some labor expenses,” Ruiz said, adding that the provincial government of Ilocos Norte has to hire additional manpower in the preparation for the largest festival in the province. (PNA)