The Enticing Dagupan City Bangus Festival 2011 Part 3

(Concluding Part) The Dagupan Bangus Festival is on full blast now as it heads to the last few days of the celebration. The last few days will be filled with a lot of exciting and engrossing activities. In addition, many tourists both foreign and local will flock once again to the city to witness the spectacular street dancing and the “bangus” barbecue grill which is peppered with street party. The mouthwatering bangus by the way means milkfish.

April 28

“The Gilon Gilon ed Dalan” will steal the thunder this day as various street dancers of the city and will vie for the top honors at stake. Invited street dance performers from the province of Pangasinan and nearby provinces like Masinloc, Zambales and Santiago City, Isabela will perform as an invited guests. There will be an explosion of colors and intricate dance moves, as the participants dance their way into the main roads of the city. Tens of thousands of spectators will surely line up in the main streets of the city to see the 32 competing teams show off their awesome and beguiling dance pieces. The street dancing competing teams will be judged with their street dance, choreography, costumes and a timed performance in the city plaza.

The “Gilon Gilon ed Dalan” depicts the bountiful milkfish (bangus in Filipino word) harvest in the city. Other street dancers from other cities and towns from the Pangasinan and nearby provinces will also showcase their own versions of street dancing featuring their main products as well.

This years winners are the villages of Lucao (Grand Champion, Best in Costume, Best in Street Dance), Mangin (First runner-up) and Poblacion Oeste (Second Runner-Up). Many of my ancestors are from Mangin and I am residing with my family in Poblacion Oeste when I was still not married, thank goodness these two villages performed well since the competition was so stiff and tough.

April 29

Bangus Rodeo

The milkfish raisers, operators and vendors will surely have a good time as they attempt to snatch some bragging rights and juicy cool prizes in the Bangus Rodeo. The Bangus Rodeo dangles cool prizes for participants with the heaviest, longest and the prettiest milkfish. The other titles up for grab in the Bangus Rodeo are the fastest bangus deboner (debone means to remove the bangus spines), fastest bangus classifier (a skill contest where the participants are given some time to sort bangus according to size and weight), and fastest bangus eater.

101 Ways to Cook Bangus

One of my colleagues in the school where I also teach won this event last 2007 and 2008. He will be competing again this year and he is set to display and pit his culinary flair and creativity against a field which is composed of seasoned professional cooks and even chefs.

The 101 Ways to Cook Bangus is held in the city to showcase the many exciting ways to cook its milkfish. When the competition is over and winners are determined the audiences are given the opportunity to feast on the foods dished out by the cooking experts.

Bangus Got Talent

The endowed individuals of Dagupan City and from the nearby cities and towns will try to pit their awesome talents with each other and will attempt give the audiences a good time with their spectacular performances and try to get the nods of the judges.

April 30

Finally, the “Kalutan ed Dalan” will commence on this day as participants will be grilling their favorite milkfish along the main roads of the city. The celebration will also feature a street party that is peppered with band performances, variety shows, folk songs and the list goes on. Popular celebrities, rock bands, singers, and dancers of the country will grace the event. It will indeed be a long day since barbecue grills and various stage performances will be spread out along the roads of A.B. Fernandez Avenue and Perez Boulevard.

The “Kalutan ed Dalan” already brought honors to the city as a celebration in 2003 smashed the record held by Peru to earn the Guinness Book of Records for The World's Longest Barbecue Grill.

More than 50,000 spectators and participants are estimated to flock this much-awaited event.

The celebration will also treat the participants and spectators with an explosive and truly colorful “Grand Fireworks Display.”

As I finish this article I am about to watch the Gilon Gilon ed Dalan 2011, my colleagues took part in this year's the street dance and parade. I decided not to join, though, I will be more happy to see the street dance and the parade.

This will be updated in the coming days.

An entry to the writingcontest.