Valley floats wow, giant cake satisfies 12,000

WHEN La Trinidad decides to bake a cake, everyone partakes.

In celebration of the 38th Strawberry festival, the 1.6-ton strawberry shortcake was unveiled at a jampacked Lednicky Hall at the municipal building.

It was enough to feed over 12,000.

“This is 12,000 slices with the Valley Bread spearheading the baking of the cake,” La Trinidad Mayor Romeo Salda said.

Satisfying the sweet tooth of thousands, Valley Bread bakers with municipal officials gave spectators slices of the giant strawberry shortcake drizzled with a berry puree.

The giant cake was made from 3,000 pieces of large eggs, 300 kilos of sugar, 345 kilos of cream milk, 162 kilos of vegetable oil, 15 kilos of vanilla extract, 375 kilos of all-purpose flour, 10 kilos of baking powder and four kilos of salt with 365 grams of fresh strawberry fruit and 40 grams of sugar used for the strawberry puree.

It took 27 bakers of Valley Bread and three days of assembly time including baking and making the icing of the cake to complete the masterpiece which was presented to the public Saturday, March 23.

Salda said a collective decision of the strawberry festival executive committee paved the way to make the replica of the Guinness World record cake of La Trinidad in 2004.

Highlights of the local festival included the parade of 15 floats and street dancing contingents.

The Barangay Beckel Cultural Group showed love and camaraderie in their colorful presentation while the La Trinidad Central School-Highland Cultural Dance Troupe gave spectators a glimpse of the culture of the Valley through agri-eco tourism.

The Chom-no Cultural Group of Barangay Puguis showed different ethnic group highlighting the beauty of the municipality through feasts and planting of highland veggies and strawberries while the Shilan Tacdian Kordi Ethnicos group showed a Bendian dance.

The Benguet National High School Annex depicted farming of strawberries as a major source of livelihood in the Valley portraying a successful harvest and a thanksgiving among 'Umili' (community) expressed through chants, dances, rituals, and practices.

The Buyagan Elementary School danced to wood instruments used in the early days to drive away animals destroying crops while the Betag Tallibeng Cultural Ensemble focused on youth wearing traditional customs with a theme of environmental preservation depictured through the use of traditional instruments, songs and dance.

The Tawang Dance Group performed the "Insalay-a" from the province of Abra, a ritual calling for rain with the "Talip" (rooster dance) from Apayao, the 'Dinuya' from Ifugao known as a community dance, the 'Toryan' from Kalinga (a courtship dance), the 'Pinanyoan' (a form of courtship dance) in Mt. Province and the 'Bendian' dance of Benguet (a dance to celebrate a bountiful harvest.

Fifteen manually maneuvered floats made of recycled materials, flowers and vegetables also paraded the streets over the weekend from barangays Alapang, Alno, Ambiong, Bahong, Balili, Bineng, Betag, Cruz, Lubas, Pico, Poblacion, Puguis, Shilan, Tawang and Wangal.

Winners of the street dancing, drum and lyre and non-motorized floats will be announced on the closing program of the month-long festival with prizes ranging from P20,000 to P50,000 judged by symbolism, design and craftsmanship.

The 38th celebration of the Strawberry Festival is themed "La Trinidad: My Home, My Pride."