LA TRINIDAD, Benguet -- The valley is ready to celebrate with the annual Strawberry Festival kicking off next month with the theme “Surviving the Times, Moving Forward.”

Festivities will commence on March 8 until the 29th.

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Agro trade fairs highlighting locally made products, as well as a strawberry lane will formally open on March 8 at the municipal grounds. An exhibit of strawberry-based products will also be featured from March 9-22 at the Lednicky Hall.

The festival was formulated in 2004 to promote the valley as the “Strawberry Capital of the Philippines.”

In 2004, the local government baked the world’s largest strawberry cake, which entered the Guinness Book of World Records as the biggest fruit shortcake ion the world. The town’s Guinness record was confirmed in 2005.

A culinary competition for best new strawberry processed food, the best salads and dips made out of the local fruit will be displayed to the public.

In 2008, 26,292.28 metric tons (mt) of strawberries were produced in the town. The peak season for the luscious fruits come in November with 2,039 mt produced two years ago until March with 609.56 mt.

A “Tayo Tan Uwik,” a cultural show, is also set for March 18 at the municipal gymnasium, along with a coffee berry festival on March 22. (Maria Elena Catajan)