PREMIUM TUBA. The An Waray party-list will stage the grandest Oktubafest on Oct. 18, 2019 as part of the 75th Leyte Gulf Landings celebration. The annual event showcases food products made out of tuba or coconut wine, a popular local wine in the Visayas that comes from the sap of the coconut palm. (Photo courtesy of An Waray party-list)
TACLOBAN CITY -- The An Waray party-list will stage the grandest Oktubafest on Oct. 18 as part of the 75th Leyte Gulf Landing celebration.
Now on its 11th year, the Oktubafest has 17 local government units confirming their participation in the competition on top of dozens of professional and amateur chefs from different parts of Eastern Visayas region, An Waray party-list Rep. Florencio Noel said.
The event will be held at the Leyte Academic Center in Palo, Leyte.
Launched in 2008, Oktubafest, the local version of German beer fiesta known as the Oktoberfest, is an annual event that showcases food products made out of tuba or coconut wine, a popular local wine in the Visayas that comes from the sap of the coconut palm.
Highlighting the activity are various competitions like the on-the-spot Kawit painting contest illustrating heroism of World War II veterans.
Kawit is made up of bamboo pole that is used by tuba harvesters. It is attached to the shoulders by a wooden hook and serves as a container of the freshly harvested juice.
Winners of the competition will receive PHP5,000 for the first prize, PHP3,000 for the second prize and PHP2,000 for the third prize.
Another category is the Siday (poem) contest where participants must compose an original free-verse or rhyme poem with the theme “Tuba ngan mga Hugot ha Gugma” (tuba and love pickup lines) and deliver it in local dialect for three minutes.
Winners will also receive PHP5,000 for the first prize, PHP3,000 for the second prize and PHP2,000 for the third prize.
The Tuba Cook-off challenge, which highlights tuba as the main ingredients of the dish, is divided into two categories-- professional and amateur.
Winners in the cooking contest will receive PHP20,000 for first prize, PHP15,000 for second prize, and PHP10,000 for third prize.
For the best bahal (old tuba) and bahalina (aged tuba) categories, the competition is open to mananguete (tuba gatherers) endorsed by the local government units to represent their town or city.
Cash rewards at stake are PHP20,000 and PHP1.5 million worth of projects for the first prize, PHP15,000 for the second place and PHP10,000 for the third place.
The day-long activity will be capped with the Kuratsa (local folk dance) for a Cause with mayors and other local officials present.
Officials will be asked to dance Kuratsa to raise funds for the scholarship of selected sons and daughters of tuba gatherers.
In Eastern Visayas communities, dancing Kuratsa is a way of raising fund through gala and abwag. Gala is the money that people offer to dancers while abwag is the money tossed up on air by the dancers or the people who offer their money.
This 11th Oktubafest is in partnership with Leyte provincial government as part of the 75th Leyte Gulf Landings Anniversary. (PNA)
