BAGUIO CITY (Oct. 25) — The Ten-Foot-Diameter Bowl, One-and-A-Half-Ton Vegetable Salad is soon to be another gastronomic experience as the Tossed Salad Festival opens its activities to the public on November 16 to 19.

ECO-WEAVE. As part of the WOW Philippines-Cordillera celebrations, local designer Jem Bautista Datu presents her indigenous gown made of Benguet silk, modeled here by Ms. Tourism Baguio 2005. A showcase of gowns using indigenous and eco-friendly materials will be held at the Baguio Convention Center on December 2.

The Tossed Salad Festival, an annual city event that local and foreign tourists look forward to since 2001, has been a major come-on for hotels, inns and restaurants to organize other culinary activities to be held in the city, participated by invited local chefs and from neighboring provinces.

The 6th Year of Presenting the Giant Tossed Salad boasts of using organic vegetables this year, as the organizers claim in the last five presentations.

Baguio Association of Hotels and Inns (BAHAI) President Jeannine Chan said that for this year, the event organizers considered giving equal opportunities to both organic and non-organic vegetable producers in the locale.

BAHAI activities, dubbed as the Food and Beverage Festival 2006, include chocolate-carving demonstration, photo competition, acrylic painting contest (for all school levels), bleach pen painting (where students bring their jeans to be decorated using pens with bleach as their ink), praline making, baking competition (Christmas Dream Cake), and a professional chefs’ competition (where chefs will follow a children’s menu instead of the traditional ‘adult menu’).

The Tossed Salad event would take place at the Baguio Convention Center on November 19. Two-servings worth P20 will cater BAHAI’s target of serving at least 15,000 to accommodate guests coming from the city and other localities, Chan said.

Aside from the much-awaited BAHAI Tossed Salad event, the Department of Tourism-Cordillera Administrative Region (DOT-CAR) has included activities sponsored by the National Delphic Council-Baguio during the WOW Philippines-Cordilleras’ Best 2006, slated to happen on November 25 to December 2.

The Game of the Arts

If the Olympics gauge the ability and physical capacity of sports players all over the world, the Delphic Games determine the cultural and creative spirit and ingenuity of artists from different countries in the world.

The International Delphic Council President Divina Bautista, who also lives in Baguio, reveals that the Delphic Games started in Berlin, Germany in 1989.

She said, “When one German Delphic Council member was looking for a Filipino art enthusiast, Katrin De Guia (wife of Kidlat Tahimik) who is also German, referred me to the Council. From then on, we at the Delphic Council here in the country have been working hard to recognize local artists who have potentials to show off their talents in the international scene.”

Bautista also shared that Baguio City, an arts tourism center, is home to many brilliant artists like national artist Bencab. “It’s like we’re working in backwards- the Baguio artists have already made it in the International Delphic Games, like Tommy Hafalla whose artwork has been a part of the International Delphic calendar, sponsored by Malaysia in 2005. And now we are establishing the Delphic Games here in the vicinity of Baguio,” she explained.

DOT-CAR regional director Purificacion Molintas shared that the WOW Philippines-Cordilleras’ Best festival has vowed to support the Delphic Council all year round with their projects.

One highlight activity for the Cordilleras’ Best 2006 is the “Hinimay ng Kalikasan” Eco-Weave Fashion Show on December 2 at the Baguio Convention Center.

According to Chai Ramos, over-all fashion show coordinator, the show will emphasize the use of indigenous hand-woven materials like Kapangan and Benguet silk. Local designers, like Jem Bautista Datu who has used mainly Benguet silk, made the gowns for the show.

“This is actually a 3-stage fashion show. The 1st part will have live mannequins; 2nd is the panorama show with installation art where weavers demonstrate making the indigenous materials; 3rd is the Fashion Show Night that would finally display the finished gowns,” Datu clarified.

Datu added that the fashion show aims to educate the youth on how to use and weave the indigenous materials for popularization; to give opportunities to Filipino fashion artists; and to use stylish yet eco-friendly materials for gowns, or any clothing apparel.

Meanwhile, Cordilleras’ Best 2006 also include the 23rd PEZAlubong (running from November 10 to January 5), wherein homegrown OTOPs (One Town, One Product) and a photo exhibit of local journalists are showcased at the Loakan PEZA.

Other activities are the indigenous choral competition (Nov. 25); Parade of Festivals (street dancing) and Arts Exhibit (Nov.26); photo and painting competitions for the youth ages 15-24 (Nov.27); free experimental film showing (Nov.28 & 30) and theater production (Nov.29) at the Convention Center. # Pink-Jean Fangon Melegrito for NORDIS