SAIPAN — The 80th Liberation Day celebration will go forward next weekend as a two-day festival with all vendor and slot fees waived, Saipan Mayor Ramon Blas “RB” Camacho and Liberation Day Committee Chairwoman Frances Santos announced Friday on Good Morning Marianas.
Festival grounds open at 12 noon Friday, Aug. 21, with the opening ceremony at 4 p.m. and entertainment running until 10 p.m. On Saturday, Aug. 22, booths open at 8 a.m. and the parade steps off at 10 a.m., following the same route as last year beginning at the Quartermaster.
“We initially planned for a really big one, but unfortunately, due to the two disasters that just happened, the two super typhoons, we had to minimize our events to just two days,” Santos said. “So it’s finally happening.”
More than 35 parade participants and more than 50 vendors are expected, including food and education booths and local artists, Santos said. The committee waived all fees to ease the burden on vendors still recovering from the storms. “There’s no vendor fees, there’s no slot fees,” she said. “We want to help the community just as much as come out and take a break from all of this pressure from the disaster.”
Camacho said the celebration is about giving the community a break after Super Typhoons Sinlaku and Bavi. “All of us suffer from these two back-to-back typhoons, especially the children. They’re traumatized,” he said. “So at least these two days, to bring the people together. Let’s mingle, walk around, share stories.”
All three mayors in the Commonwealth will participate in the parade, and Guam mayors and off-island visitors have been invited, Camacho said. He said he also heard Congresswoman Kimberlyn King-Hinds plans to join the parade alongside the mayors.
The celebration, originally planned for the July 4 weekend, was pushed back after Bavi. Camacho said organizers kept the event simple with the resources on hand. “The point there is just to not to have this liberation,” he said. “Everything is tailored down.”
Camacho credited the volunteer Liberation Day Committee and his staff for assembling the event on short notice.
