Mayor Romeo K. Salda’s Message for the Strawberry Festival 2025

On behalf of the Municipality of La Trinidad, I wish everyone a Happy La Trinidad Strawberry Festival!

This year’s theme is #Semek La Trinidad which translates to “Love La Trinidad” – encouraging everyone to love our place and participate in being good stakeholders of our town, La Trinidad.

Even before La Trinidad became the Strawberry and Cutflower Capital of the Philippines, it had already carved out a niche as the Salad Bowl of the Philippines. The town was already known for producing well-known and in-demand vegetables.

The diversification in strawberry and cut-flower production was driven, in part, by competition from neighboring towns that had gone into mass vegetable production. Primarily, farmers were looking for a more profitable product that would be suitable and unique to the town.

The Strawberries that are being celebrated have become an iconic representation not only of La Trinidad but of the entire Baguio-Benguet area. As the “Strawberry Capital of the Philippines,” the Strawberry Festival is unique in the strawberry town, spanning nearly four decades of celebration.

The goals of the Festival are largely the same: to showcase the strawberry as the One-Town One-Product (OTOP) of La Trinidad and to foster and stimulate the relationship between and among the local and foreign people. It is also a way to promote, not only La Trinidad Strawberries but also the town’s many other products. While celebrating the town’s cultural diversity and richness.

With that, we hope to see you all at the main event of the festivities on March 18, 22, and 23, 2025.

Romeo K. Salda – Municipal Mayor