CROWDS, both locals and foreigners, gathered for the first ever Cebu Mangoes Festival in the Mactan Newton in Lapu-Lapu City on Sunday, May 26.
As part of the festivities, the "biggest mango sago (tapioca) dessert in the world" was also made out of 300 kilos of mangoes harvested from the township's own mango trees.
"Cebu Mangoes Festival is our way of celebrating not just the mango fruit but also the celebration of summer, the life in the tropics which this township is about," Noli Hernandez, president of Megaworld Cebu Properties, said.
For the mango sago, Hernandez said they chose the dessert because it was a favorite among Filipinos.
"This is our favorite and I can't think of a better dessert to highlight the sweetness of the local mango variety and it's something we can prepare in a big cauldron," he said.
More than 240 mango trees were especially planted on the streets of the 30-hectare property and were harvested twice a year.
Hernandez said people from all walks of life joined in the different activities like mango picking, the mangopreneur bazaar, Zumba and the free tasting of the biggest mango tapioca.
"We will have another festival next year which will be bigger and better," he said.
Niah Llegunas,17, an incoming Grade 12 student, said attending the festival was a first for her.
Llegunas said she enjoyed the activities and her family purposely traveled from Cebu City to Lapu-Lapu to join the festival.
"The festivals that I have seen are on TV and now that I am actually on the festival, I appreciated it more. What's more fun is that the things they gave out were free and the public could enjoy what they were preparing," she told SunStar Cebu.
The township also sold ripe and unripe mangoes to the revelers at P60 to P80 per kilo.
"There were a lot of people who bought our mangoes. Even if it's ripe or not, all of our stocks since Saturday sold out. We sold off almost 2,000 kilos of mangoes already and expect more people to continue buying," Robert Navales, estate services officer of the Mactan Newtown, said.
The festival ran from May 25 to May 26. (JOB)