Fun at the third annual Filipino Upo Festival

The Maples

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This article was published 13/09/2023 (850 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Filipinos love to celebrate life and just having great times. The third annual Upo Festival was a case in point. Organized by the Filipino community (204 Volunteer Inc.), this year’s kitchen-garden vegetable exhibition and gathering, held on Sept. 2 at the Maples Community Centre, was by far the largest celebration yet, especially since COVID-19 restrictions have been relaxed.

The upo gourd, a vegetable like squash, is very popular in the Philippines, India and southeast Asia. In English, the upo is known as the bottle gourd, abd there are several varieties in the upo family. The plant is a sturdy vine that, usually groomed to grow on a wooden trestle.

Upo is cooked in several Filipino dishes including soups, stir fries and in stews with chicken or seafoods.

The Upo Festival is like the famed annual Roland Pumpkin Festival in Roland, Man. For the Upo Festival, prizes were awarded in several categories, including heaviest upo, longest upo, smallest upo and the weirdest-looking vegetable. All entries had to be from a backyard garden and there were dozens of submissions.

The winners of this year’s major categories were Richard Mojado, who won the award for longest Upo, with an eight-foot specimen; and Zacarias Cadiz, who won heaviest upo for a gourd weighing 15.6 kilograms.

This free, festive event was truly a community celebration, which included karaoke singing, dance presentations, the sharing of upo soup and a giant community pot of ”pakbet” (vegetable soup). There was also an acrylic painting workshop for children and seniors.

Leila Castro is the lead organizer and founder of 204 Volunteer Inc. and the Upo Festival.

“Backyard gardening is a healthy activity, including mental health. It’s economical, an excellent food source and it’s a natural hobby for Filipinos,” she said.