Here's Where You Can Buy Unique and Handmade Filipino Products
The Negros Trade Fair is where you can get to experience the best that the region has to offer
The country’s longest-running provincial trade fair is returning this September with a whole new set of products that showcase the talents and skills of the people of Negros.
It was in 1985 when the first Negros Trade Fair happened in Makati. Since its origin, the goal behind the event has always been to showcase products and services from the Visayan province of Negros, as well as to create employment opportunities for its people. More than thirty years later, the Negros Trade Fair is bigger and better than ever, with each annual event ushering in a new wave of promising Negrense brands which are part of the Association of Negros Producers (ANP).
The theme for this year’s Negros Trade Fair is “Sweet Talk: Sugar, Spice, & Everything Nice.” This theme encourages exhibitors to create products that make use of sugar, its components, and/or its by-products, and comes from the fact that it was the sugar industry which helped elevate and stabilize the lives of Negrenses many years ago.
This year’s line-up of products come from various sectors, including food, fashion, furniture and home décor, agriculture, and tourism, all of which represent the industries which sustain the people of Negros. Take a look at some of the exciting products offered this year:
Tumandok Crafts Industries has been manufacturing award-winning, finely made pieces since 1988, and specialize in pieces made out of locally available materials such as capiz and Nito grass, and even unusual materials like ant's nest, which are made into lamps.
Bamboo Tray by Dos Marias; Crochet-edge Trayliner by Milvidas
Wood & Metal Frame Napkin Holder by Art-Energy
A lot of the Negrense producers support charities and have advocacies, such as the Vallehermoso Helping Hands Foundation, which sells arts and crafts produced by a livelihood program for the residents of Vallehermoso, a small municipality in Negros.
By the Vallehermoso Helping Hands
Mosaic Cross by NVC
Handwoven Placemats by Milvidas; Polycotton and Abaca Fiber by Silay Export
Negros-based furniture and export company Hacienda Crafts is run by Christina and Joey Gaston, and focuses on "envirosocial pieces" made out of recycled or renewable materials, such as decor made out of fabric scraps, furniture from up-cycled metal from sugarcane trucks, and more.
Buri Flower Vase, Senora Buhawi, and Bauhinia Leaf Tray by Hacienda Crafts
Negros is known for their delicious food, so lots of Negrense delicacies are up for grabs. And don't forget to try the buko and guapple pies of the famous El Ideal Bakery, one of the oldest bakeries in Negros (running since the 1920s), that is located in a heritage building in Silay.
Ensaimada by Felicia's
Gourmet Talangka by Ading's Gourmet Tuyo
Buko Pie and Guapple Pie by El Ideal
The 33rd Negros Trade Fair is happening this September 26 to 30 at Glorietta Activity Center in Makati City. For more information, follow them on their Facebook page.
