Strawberry Festival in full bloom as La Trinidad parades its ‘limitless’ spirit

LA TRINIDAD, Philippines – By 8 am, the valley was already alive. Drums rolled through the morning air. Dancers found their rhythm on the street. Floats moved slowly, almost like gardens learning how to walk.

But more than spectacle, the Strawberry Festival parade on Saturday, March 21, felt like something deeper — like a town telling its own story, in color, in sound, and in shared pride.

From Km. 6 to the municipal grounds, La Trinidad unfolded its Drum and Lyre, Street Dancing, and Community Float Parade, a centerpiece of the 2026 Strawberry Festival that brought together schools, barangays, and cultural groups in one long, continuous expression of who they are.

The theme, “Limitless La Trinidad,” did not need explaining. It was already there. You could hear it in the drums, see it in the steps, feel it in the way people showed up for one another.

SUSTAINABLE CREATIVITY. Barangay Tawang’s float showcases sustainable creativity, crafted from repurposed materials while highlighting local landmarks and the community’s pride in nature and heritage. Mia Magdalena Fokno

The parade opened with the steady cadence of drum and lyre corps. Children in crisp uniforms moved with a confidence earned through weeks of practice. The Puguis Elementary School Drum and Lyre Corps took the top spot, followed by La Trinidad Central School and Buyagan Elementary School as first runner-up, and Lubas and Pico elementary schools as second runner-up.

But beyond the rankings, what stayed with you was the discipline. Young hands keeping time. Young feet holding formation. It felt like watching something grow, steady and sure, much like the strawberries that have come to define the town.

Then the dancers took over, and the story shifted.

The Namuaw Cultural Dance Troupe emerged as champion, drawing from traditions such as dapilan, the old method of extracting sugarcane juice. It is no longer commonly practiced, but in that moment, it lived again through movement and memory. Immaculate Heart of Mary School and Tongtongan Cultural Performing and Arts Ensemble followed, with Barangay Ambiong also recognized.

The Namuaw Cultural Dance Troupe reenacts the traditional dapilan, the age-old method of extracting sugarcane juice, bringing ancestral practices to life at the Strawberry Festival. Mia Magdalena Fokno

Across performances, the same themes kept surfacing. Harvest. Gratitude. Resilience. These were not performances built for applause alone. They were reminders of where the community comes from, and what it continues to carry forward.

By the time the floats rolled in, the crowd had leaned closer.

Barangays turned the street into a moving gallery. Strawberries, sunflowers, coffee, pine trees. Each float told a story. Each one carried a piece of identity.

In the Pro-Environment Category, Barangay Tawang took the top prize with a float built largely from repurposed materials, a quiet statement on sustainability and pride in place. Lubas and Alapang followed, with Poblacion also recognized.

In the Valley of Colors Category, Barangay Wangal stood out. Its float captured harvest, warmth, and unity through carefully arranged agricultural imagery, with Pico and Ambiong completing the winners’ circle.

Some floats were intricate. Others were simple. But all of them pointed to the same truth. What grows here, whether crops or ideas, is never the work of one person alone.

For La Trinidad Mayor Roderick Awingan, that is exactly the point.

“This is a community-led celebration. Hindi ito commercialized. This is binnadang, people helping one another, working together, sharing what we have,” he said.

Binnadang, a Kankanaey concept, is not just a word. It is a way of life. It means showing up, lending a hand, doing the work together. You see it in the fields during planting and harvest. And on this day, you could see it just as clearly on the streets.

It was in the students who practiced under the sun. In barangay teams who built floats from recycled materials. In cultural groups who chose to remember and retell their stories.

Panagbenga may draw crowds to Baguio, but here in La Trinidad, the Strawberry Festival feels closer to the ground. It is shaped by seasons, sustained by labor, and grounded in community.

Every drumbeat, every dance, every float led back to the same place. The land. The people. The work that binds them.

And the celebration is not yet finished.

On March 29, the town will gather again for one of its sweetest traditions, the giant triplet strawberry cake expected to serve around 10,000 people. It is a spectacle, yes. But more than that, it is something meant to be shared.

Because in La Trinidad, festivals are not just staged. They are grown. And like everything grown here, they are meant for everyone. – Rappler.com