THOUSANDS of people from all walks of life trooped to the beaches of Pangasinan on Thursday to participate in Pistay Dayat (Sea Festival) which coincides with the celebration of Labor Day on May 1.

They came by cars, buses, jeepneys and trucks from nearly all corners of Luzon to soak in the Invigorating waterS of the Lingayen Gulf and beat the intense summer heat in their homes.

Many held picnics in the beach with just towels covering their heads while they were eating. Others rented sheds.

The beaches from San Fabian in the northeast to Bolinao in the far west up to the China Sea coast of Infanta, near the Zambales border, turned into a virtual sea of humanity the whole day due to the big number of beachcombers.

It was the biggest sea festival ever seen in Pangasinan in recent years yet with Governor Amado Espino Jr. personally leading the celebration in Pangasinan while Mayor Alipio Fernandez and Vice
Mayor Belen Fernandez spearheaded the celebration of Pista’y Dayat in Dagupan City, a political subdivision separate from the province of Pangasinan.

The celebration of Pista’y Dayat in Dagupan was made an integral part of the Dagupan Bangus Festival 2008, chaired by Vice Mayor Fernandez, which already started on April 16.

A thanksgiving mass at the Dagupan Beach and the blessing of the sea was officiated by Fr. Rodolfo Sumintac of the Annunciation of the Lord’s Parish in Bonuan, Dagupan City.

Beachcombers in all beaches of Pangsinan were however upset a bit by the coming of early rain before noon.

It also rained on Wednesday night, which broke up a big street party in Dagupan called “Bangusan Street Party” but which was resumed at 10 p.m. when the downpour stopped, till dawn the next day.

“Well, we have no control (over) nature,” said Benny Gubatan of the governor’s office, reacting to the coming of the early rain in Lingayen.

The Pista’y Dayat is a yearly tradition started in the early 1960s to promote the entire beach of the Lingayen Gulf as havens of tourist during summer.

A report said it was the late governor Francisco Duque III, as health secretary during the administration of then President Diosdado Macapagal, who started Pangasinan’s first “Pista’y Dayat”.(PNA)