The Adivay agricultural trade fair has opened in La Trinidad, Benguet featuring various products from the 13 towns displayed in booths.
Gov. Melchor Diclas led the opening program and ribbon-cutting on Nov. 14 with Department of Agriculture-Cordillera Officer-in-Charge Jennilyn Dawayan as guest speaker.
The 13 booths, some replicated the traditional huts and others going for a more modern design such as the municipality of La Trinidad, showcase the “one town, one product” and other products of the municipalities, as well as their natural and man-made tourism sites.
Revelers go through the huts in two parallel lines, making it look like a village amidst the row of cars parked in Wangal, La Trinidad.
Mankayan opted to decorate its frontage with a replica of a large gong and a mine tunnel as its entrance while Tuba went for a Stone Kingdom-ish frontage. Bokod has its usual fresh tilapia sold at the booth, while Atok displayed its wide array of succulents in its frontage.
The La Trinidad booth is adorned with flowers and strawberries while Sablan’s booth has fresh bananas hanging at the hut and pineapples as part of the landscape.
Diclas said the long-term plan would be to make the municipal booths permanent and make the area into a tourism village.
He said it is up to the local government units if they want to relegate the maintenance of the booths to micro, small, and medium enterprises from their towns as long as their own products would be on display.
He is hopeful they would be able to connect the site as an added tourist attraction in the province.
The agri trade fair area has been the site of the 13 booths since 2010, as a means of showcasing the province through the participating towns.
Each town also presented their respective mascots that best represent their towns following the opening program.
The best booth, landscape, and mascot will also be chosen and announced on Nov. 24 during the agri-fair closing. – Ofelia C. Empian
