OTON, Iloilo - With the watermelon harvest season running from summer until December, Oton rolls out the welcome mat for visitors and residents to its Sandiya Festival on Dec. 6, 2012.

The festival provides farmers a venue to discuss watermelon cultivation and marketing.

Even if Oton is the largest producer of watermelon in the province of Iloilo, the local government unit admits that they have trouble marketing it.

The festival will also gather horticulturists.

The festival started in 2006 and continues through the partnership of the Oton LGU, the Municipal Agriculture and Cooperative Office Oton Watermelon Growers Association (OWGA) and East-West Seed.

This year’s festival will start at 1 p.m. on Thursday featuring music, games and other activities with the watermelon as the backdrop.

These activities are: watermelon pie eating contest, watermelon relay, fruit carving and “Pinaka”, a contest for the biggest and best watermelons.

There will be a display of yellow and red watermelons for sale and information on watermelon pest management, variety development and more.