Bacnotan, La Union Is Using a Honey Festival to Build a Local Economy. Thirty-One Exhibitors Showed Up to Prove It Is Working.

Not every local festival is an economic development tool. Bacnotan, La Union is making sure its annual Diro Festival is both.

On May 2, 2026, Mayor Divina Fontanilla led the opening of the Agri-Tourism Trade Fair at the Bacnotan Farmers' Agri-Tourism Center, anchored under the theme "BEE-da ti Mannalon ken Mangngalap," a framing that placed farmers and fisherfolk at the center of the town's economic narrative rather than at its margins. The event coincided with the launch of Bacnotan's first-ever Business Expo, bringing together MSMEs, young entrepreneurs, local businesses, and private stakeholders from within and beyond the municipality.

The result: 31 exhibitors across three platforms, a steady stream of foot traffic driven by the civic parade and Diskwento Caravan, and a set of institutional commitments that extend well past the festival weekend.

What the Festival Floor Looked Like

The 31 exhibitors were distributed across three distinct market-facing activities:

• 14 exhibitors at the Business Expo, Bacnotan's first, bringing together local enterprises and entrepreneurs in a dedicated commercial showcase

• 12 exhibitors at the Kadiwa Agri-Trade Fair, connecting agricultural producers directly to buyers in a format designed for accessible, fair-price market access

• 5 exhibitors at the Diskwento Caravan, a price-accessible retail format that draws high foot traffic and puts local products in front of everyday consumers

The diversity of formats was intentional. Different businesses and producers need different kinds of market exposure. A first-time MSME owner and an established agricultural cooperative do not benefit equally from the same booth setup. By running three parallel platforms under one festival umbrella, Bacnotan created multiple entry points for local economic participation.

Who Was in the Room

What made this year's Diro Festival trade activities distinctive was its explicit commitment to inclusion. Persons with disabilities, senior citizens, and Bureau of Jail Management and Penology personnel joined established enterprises in market-facing opportunities alongside mainstream business exhibitors.

That inclusion is not incidental. It reflects a deliberate LGU decision to treat economic participation as a right that extends beyond the most commercially ready players in the community, and to use a high-visibility public event as the vehicle for making that participation real.

Beyond the Festival: The FDA Pipeline

The most significant long-term signal from Bacnotan's initiative is not the 31 exhibitors or the festival foot traffic. It is what the Municipal Agriculture Office, Local Economic Development Office, and Tourism Office are doing after the tents come down.

All three offices are now actively assisting exhibitors in securing Food and Drug Administration certification, the regulatory requirement that unlocks entry into supermarkets, institutional buyers, and larger trade fairs. That pipeline is the difference between a festival booth and a sustainable enterprise. Products that cannot meet FDA standards cannot scale beyond informal markets, regardless of how good they are.

By embedding FDA certification assistance into the post-festival support structure, Bacnotan is treating the trade fair not as an endpoint but as a launchpad, identifying which local products have commercial potential and then helping them clear the regulatory hurdle that most small producers cannot navigate alone.

Mayor Fontanilla framed the goal clearly. "Let us continue to support our local businesses and patronize their products and services."

Jessy Cabagbag, vice president of the Municipal Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Management Council, grounded the effort in the community's daily reality. "We should be proud of this work, because we are the ones who provide food for our families and our province."

What Bacnotan Is Building

The Diro Festival model is worth watching because it demonstrates what an LGU can do when it decides to treat cultural celebration and economic development as the same project rather than separate calendar items.

A festival brings the crowd. The trade fair gives the crowd a reason to buy local. The Business Expo gives local enterprises a professional market exposure they would not otherwise have access to. The FDA certification pipeline gives the best of those enterprises a pathway to markets that last beyond the festival weekend. And the inclusion of PWDs, senior citizens, and BJMP personnel ensures that the economic opportunity reaches community members who are often left outside the main market floor.

For Northern Luzon's broader ecosystem, Bacnotan is a model of what municipal-level enterprise development looks like when it is done with intention. It does not require a large budget or a technology programme. It requires an LGU that understands the connection between culture, community, and commerce, and has the coordination capacity to link all three in one event.

Source: Philippine Information Agency La Union | Article by Kathlene Joyce Ramones | May 5, 2026