LibDay Festival officially starts

The Kagman High School Color Guard posts the colors at the opening ceremony of the 77th Liberation Day Festival last Saturday evening at the Garapan Fishing Base. (CHRYSTAL MARINO)

Officially kickstarting the nearly monthlong festivities, many members of the community and dignitaries joined the Office of the Mayor of for the opening ceremony of the CNMI’s 77th Liberation Day Festival last Saturday evening at the Garapan Fishing Base.

Despite several challenges, the Saipan Mayor’s Office and the Liberation Day Committee pulled off the feat in keeping the traditional celebration, with the 2023 edition of the Liberation Day Festival having more than 30 booths on the carnival grounds and over 40 participants set to join the upcoming July 4th parade tomorrow.

The carnival grounds will be open from Saturday, July 1, to Saturday, July 22. On Thursdays and Sundays the hours of operations are from 5pm to 10pm; on Fridays and Saturdays, it will be from 5pm to 12am. Operations will cease Mondays through Wednesdays with the exception of Tuesday, July 4, 2023, when the carnival grounds will be open from 10am to 12am.

Daily raffle prizes will be given out.

Liberation Day Committee chair Nadine Deleon Guerrero thanked all of their sponsors, donors, supporters and the Liberation Day Committee for making the event a possibility.

She said the two highlights of this year’s event is the July 4th Liberation Day Parade, which begins at 10am this Tuesday, and the return of the Battle of the Bands with a twist. The twist is that the winner of the Battle of the Band competition will be picked based on an original song performance focused on this year’s Liberation theme, which is Resiliency Rising.

Deleon Guerrero also cited the return of bingo to the carnival grounds starting July 4; it will be open from 1pm to 10pm.

As for the annual firework show, Deleon Guerrero said, “We hope to have fireworks that evening, but as times are very hard, you’re 2023 LDC is working very hard to secure funding for that.”

Other complications that arose included the arrival of a special guest, vendor support, and shipping issues due to the lingering after-effects effects of Typhoon Mawar.

During his first Liberation day mayor’s address, Saipan Mayor Ramon “RB” Camacho thanked people who had come out to the event, and shared how this year’s celebration is focused on the CNMI’s resiliency throughout the years. “Tonight we begin the annual celebration to remind us of the courage and the strength of our people to weather and rise above, no matter how big our worry is…” Camacho said. “Together we can all rise, together we can all promote a safe community, together we can promote safe villages, together we can have a clean island. So it’s a matter of working together, together we all rise.”

In his opening remarks, Gov. Arnold I. Palacios said the CNMI has been seeing tremendous challenges and transformative changes in the past 77 years. “Liberation Day Is a celebration of 77 years worth of progress, and we look forward to continuing our story of resiliency by dedicating ourselves to the betterment of the lives of everyone who calls this place home,” he noted.”…Resiliency rising should be more than just a theme for this year’s festivities. It should be a reminder of who we truly are as a people—a close knit community with our enduring spirit…”

The Kagman High School JROTC Battalion Color Guards posted and retired the colors that evening.

The three-week celebration will continue until July 22, 2023.