ON WITH NEW ‘KALUTAN’

 

 

Is Dagupan City the holder of the world’s longest barbecue grill record?
 

If the mere recorded and submitted data to Guinness World of Records were considered,   the answer would be in the affirmative but apparently this claim has yet to be validated and confirmed by Guinness.

This was revealed by City Mayor Benjamin Lim to the local media shortly before he formally welcomed delegates to the Private Schools Athletic Association (PRISAA), as he wanted to correct misimpressions that the city is already   official record holder.
    
    

     The delegates to PRISAA participated in a mini-version of the now famous “Kalutan  ed Dagupan”.

Last year’s effort was a two-kilometer grill staged during the 2005 Bangus Festival and bested the world record of 1.6 kilometer staged by Turkey during its own Anchovy Festival.

It will be recalled that Turkey’s record topped the city’s 1.3  kilometer world barbecue record registered by Dagupan in the 2003 Bangus Festival  in its first attempt, and this prompted the city government to stage  another attempt last year.

Last year’s effort saw some 24,000 bangus grilled the same time and this gathered an overflow crowd of 50,000.

Lim revealed that Dagupan was considering two options before, one was to stage longer “Kalutan ed Dagupan” for another record and the other was simply to be content with the knowledge that the city was listed as the record holder in 2003 albeit short-lived.

But he surmised that “in the end, the will to stay on top like that of a boxing champ should prevail in our hearts. We have to win back our world championship crown,” said Lim.

However, he has not given any indication so far that this will be this year’s Bangus Festival appointed Councilor Nicanor  Aquino as chair of this year’s “Bangus Festival”.

Aquino, a neophyte councilor and one of Lim’s most trusted allies in the legislative body, was chair of the 2004 Dagupan City Fiesta.

“Our (barbecue) record was the first (among many others) to appear in the homepage of the website,” Lim told newsmen.

This, he said, is proof that the people of Dagupan were once the official record holder of the world’s longest barbecue”.

Bangus Festival now recognized by DOT
 

THE Bangus Festival’ in Dagupan is now calendared by the Department of Tourism as one of the famous festivals being celebrated in the country.

This was disclosed by Mayor Benjamin who was told by the DOT that the “Bangus Festival” could now equal the “Sinulog” festival in Cebu, “Panagbengga” in Baguio, “Kadayawan” in Davao, “Ati-atihan” in Aklan, “Masskara” in Bacolod, “Dinagyang” in Iloilo and “Mardi Gras” in Olongapo.

“But one thing sets us apart from other major festivals in the country is that ours is a Guinness Book record-holder,” Lim told visiting athletes fromthe Private Schools Athletic Association (PRISAA) last Wednesday.

Lim described the “Bangus Festival” as a “phenomenal fusion of achievement, teamwork and unity of the Dagupeños.

In the forthcoming 2006 “Bangus Festival”, Lim invited all grill owners who purchased their units in 2002, 2003 and 2005 to surrender their grills to get a certification that  these were used in the city’s successful bid for the Guinness World Record.

Lim said the grills would be stamped with the Guinness official logo as a fitting memento of their valuable participation in that record-breaking event.

The same grills would be laid out on April 30 along A.B. Fernandez Avenue down to Burgos Street for the 5th Kalutan ed Dagupan.

“This year will be the Grand Reunion of  Guinness Record Holders for the longest barbecue,” Lim said, adding that the participants will not be limited to the owners of the barbecue grill units but also every one else who took part in previous ‘kalutans’.

Lim said that not a single centavo will be spent by the city government for the 5th Kalutan ed Dagupan as all expenses will be bankrolled by minor and major sponsors. – AQL
 

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