Strawberry fest, products draw visitors; events up to March 31

LA TRINIDAD, Benguet — Some 3,000 visitors arrived here this week for the grand opening of the trade fair of this year’s Strawberry Festival in this cool, wide and fertile valley unique for its strawberry fields.

This, as pastries, jams and other fruity delights made from fresh locally-grown strawberries take center stage in the 34th Strawberry Festival in this town until the end of the month.

Launched last March 10, the festival was formally opened by Mayor Edna Tabanda who said, “We will have a very simple celebration this year because we opted to leave out other activities because of the lack of budget.”

She was referring to the absence of the annual parade and cultural street dancing in this year’s festivities.

But whatever the festival lacked in fanfare, it made up for in tasty splendor.

Tabanda, along with Vice Mayor Romeo Salda and the other leaders of the town, unveiled a mix of all-time product favorites derived from strawberries as well as new additions for the sweet tooth.

A variety of cakes, jams, preserve, wine, “kisses,” soap and many others strawberry-based products are the centerpiece of this year’s festival which will run until March 31.

Known as the “salad bowl” of the Cordilleras, La Trinidad is also best known for its strawberry farms that are always worth the visit when in Baguio City or in the region, so it was only fitting that this year’s celebration theme is “Breaking Ground for Sustainable Agro – Tourism.”

Traders and residents have on display their commercial and homemade products at the Agro Trade Fair.

Strawberry season starts in November with the higher yield in February and March when the festival happens – at prices dropping to P80 a kilo. Berries are still red until April, but supply starts to dwindle as the month of May enters.

In 2004, the festival featured a giant strawberry cake weighing more than 10,000 kilos served to approximately 11,000 guests and residents that landed in the Guinness Book of World Records.

This town, which the country’s history books referred to as the “Salad Bowl of the Philippines,” is located 256 km north of Manila.