Leyte’s animal jousts festival showcases delicacies

CARIGARA, Leyte, March 28 (PNA) –- This town’s annual festival of animal jousts on Black Saturday has not just lured tourists, but also showcased its wide array of food and delicacies.

Dubbed as "Turugpo", the event features carabao (water buffalo) and horse fights. Locals took chance in selling food and delicacies unique in Carigara town.

While thousands of spectators, including local and foreign tourists, watched in awe as the carabaos locked horns, trying to push each other until one of them gave up and fled from the pursuing winner, others took chance of buying foods displayed a few meters away from the arena.

Roasted pig was sold at a very affordable price, including local dishes that include edible frog cooked in coconut oil.

Another delicacy commonly sold was hubhub, a grated cassava with coconut milk cooked inside a bamboo stem.

It was observed that almost all spectators that went home carried with them a number of bamboo stem with hubhub.

Mayor Eduardo C. Ong said that Turugpo is a major event in Carigara because the town becomes known not only in the region, but even national and international as tourism destination.

He added that the event has its economic advantage by providing livelihood opportunity to the town folk, especially those selling local delicacies.

Ong, true to his earlier statement made the event more spectacular by a wider arena for the fighting animals as well as spacious area for the spectators and a number of tents that served as the stalls for food and delicacies.

The local government provided free water to spectators.

Although the event has been very popular not only in Leyte, during the Holy Week, the local government has no plans to collect entrance fee since the main purpose of the event is to honor the two-century old tradition of their town. (PNA)
FFC/SQM/LIZBETH ANN A. ABELLA/EGR