A Kapuso filled Bangus Festival

MANILA, Philippines - It was certainly hot in Dagupan City as Kapuso stars joined the celebration of Dagupan City’s Bangus Festival.  

“We are excited that GMA Network is once again part of the Festival; so that we can celebrate with all our Kapuso and also invite them to support our shows and programs,” said Jocelyn Bautista, program manager for Regional ETV.

Janice de Belen of Dwarfina charmed the crowd at Dagupan City People’s Astrodome when she did a cooking demo during the 101 Ways to Cook Bangus event. Janice showed how to cook her favorite bangus dishes: Bangus Croquettes, Bangus with Lemon Butter Sauce and Steamed Bangus.

101 Ways to Cook Bangus was a cooking contest for amateur chefs and culinary arts students. The event was launched in 2002 and has been a part of the festival ever since. The mouth-watering dishes in the competition included flaming sweet and tangy bangus rolls wrapped in bacon with peach coulis and cola sauce and braised cheesy bangus fillet with asparagus spears in white thyme and basil mushroom sauce with bangus croquettes.

From left: Will Devaughn, Glaiza de Castro, Mia Pangilinan, Kris Lawrence and John Feir

After the cooking demo, Janice also talked about the finale of Dwarfina topbilled by Heart Evangelista and Dennis Trillo.

Later that same afternoon, Dagupeños and Bangus Festival revelers were treated to a Bangus Festival Kapuso Mall Show.

The Atrium inside Dagupan City’s CSI The City Mall was packed with a crowd of about 2,000 as Kapuso stars joined in on the fun during one of Northern Philippine’s grandest festivals.

Mike Nacua and John Feir played hosts while Will Devaughn, Kylie Padilla and Kris Lawrence performed.

Amaya’s Glaiza de Castro, Sid Lucero and Mia Pangyarihan wowed the audience.

Kylie Padilla

The next night, it was time for Kalutan Ed Dalan, Bangus Festival’s famed street party, showcasing thousands of sumptuous grilled bangus and red-hot performances by Kapuso stars.

Perez St. in Dagupan City, where Kapuso Night was held, overflowed with an estimated 8,000 revelers. Rico Robles and Regine Velasquez impersonator Ate hosted the event. The crowd swooned as Daniel Matsunaga appeared onstage.

Afterwards, Party Pilipinas mainstays Rochelle Pangilinan and Mark Herras had the crowd roaring with their high-energy numbers. Shamrock, on the other hand, rocked the house with hits including the new Captain Barbell theme song, Sandata.

Launched in 2002, the Dagupan Bangus Festival is an annual event which aims to promote the city’s local bangus industry. In 2003, Kalutan ed Dagupan captured the Guinness World Record for the longest barbecue pit. Dagupeños repeated the feat two years after.

Daniel Matsunaga and Mark Herras