2018 Liberation Day festival now open

The opening night of the Liberation Day festival last Friday was packed with members of the CNMI community. (Kimberly A. Bautista)

The most anticipated festival of the year is finally here and is now open to the public but for merely nine days.

The 2018 Liberation Day festival, which is dedicated to the opening of the gates of Camp Susupe, is finally here and was kicked off last Friday.

Although the festival has been cut extremely short, the Liberation Day committee has pulled out all the stops to ensure that this year’s celebration will be extremely amazing and memorable for the community.

During the kick off, Saipan Mayor David M. Apatang gave the welcoming remarks. According to him, this year marks the 73rd anniversary of the Liberation Day celebration.

“Since 1945, we have consistently recognized how important the Fourth of July has been in our history. We have traditionally celebrated it with a large gathering like this evening’s and highlighted it with a very loud and fun-filled parade at the tail end of the celebration,” he said.

Apatang said that the Liberation Day festival remains the most anticipated event every year by the people of the commonwealth.

“I and the planning committee have always endeavoured to ensure that our celebration every year has an inherent meaning that relives nostalgia of the past 72 years. And to achieve that, we have established a planning committee whose purpose is to bring the past to present by mixing our progressive evolution, so to speak, that have occurred over the years with present day preference. It is a feat that past and present planning committees take seriously by heart, and this year’s planning committee is no exception,” he said

Apatang said that the vision of the committee that was chosen this year is what brought the festival to life.

“ …it’s their backgrounds, experience, and expertise. Above all, the members are vibrant vision planners, who I strongly believe care for our island,” he said.

This year’s committee chair is Joe Ayuyu, Jr. and his vice chair is Matt Deleon Guerrero. This year’s concessions and logistics chair is Maria Valentina Haberman and her vice chair is Shayne Villanueva. This year’s entertainment chair is Gordon Marciano and his vice chair is Parker Yobei. This year’s parade chair is Brad Ruszala, the hospitality chair is Louis Rodgers, and the promotion strategist is Catherine Perry.

The Liberation Day festival is open every night from 6pm to 10pm at the Garapan Fishing Base and will feature local performers and local food concession and beverage vendors.