SABLAN, Benguet – It is now all systems go for the staging of the various activities that were lined up by the municipal government for the 5th edition of the town’s Fruit Festival which has been institutionalized as its major crowd drawing event over the past several years.
The 3-day festivities will fire off on Sunday, September 1, 2019 with the coronation night of the Search for Mr. and Miss Sablan Fruit Festival 2019 wherein entries from the town’s 8 barangays will be competing for the pride of representing the municipality in similar events in the coming months.
On September 2, 2019, the day will start with the Eucharistic celebration that will be immediately followed by the traditional float parade of the participating contingents and the ribbon cutting that will signal the start of the famous agro-industrial fair where assorted fruits produced in the municipality will be displayed for the public.
Further, the program will continue with the so-called fresh fruit medley presentation, serving and distribution and the conduct of the poster making and canvass competition.
The schedule of activities also include free haircut, fruit processing and special competitions, particularly the search for the sweetest pineapple, guyabano, pomelo, papaya among others aside from the fruits and berries planting competition.
The agro-industrial fair will continue on September 3, 2019 which will be complimented by the annual conduct of the Farmer’s Congress and the techno-demo caravan which will be conducted in the municipal gymnasium.
On September 4, 2019, the fruit festival activities will continue with the conduct of the ground demonstration which will be followed by the awarding of the winners of the different competitions that have been spearheaded and completed during the duration of the festival.
Lectures on citrus production, rootcrops protection, provincial veterinary livelihood programs, Philippine good agricultural practices and orientation and updates of crop insurance programs will also be part of the fruit festival activities prepared by the municipal government.
Mayor Manuel Munar, Jr. and Vice Mayor Arthur Baldo urged the people from the neighboring towns of Benguet, La Union, Baguio City and Pangasinan and other provinces to visit the municipality during the conduct of the fruit festival for them to be able to have a taste of the assorted fruits being produced in the municipality, especially that fruits produced in Mindanao such as rambutan, durian among others are now being produced in the municipality.
Sablan is known to be the fruit basket of Benguet because of the assorted highland and lowland fruits that are able to thrive in the municipality because of its semi-temperate climate being located just at the middle of the Cordillera and the Ilocos regions.
Local officials assured the public that despite the recent wrath of weather disturbances, there will be sufficient supply of assorted fruits that could be purchased by those who will be visiting the municipality and joining the local government in the celebration of the town’s fruit festival.
The municipal government continues to introduce the appropriate innovations that will add up to the attractions of the fruit festival so that people will be enticed to visit the municipality and patronize the activities that have been lined up for the festival.
By HENT
