One of the best things about the Fiesta Señor is the opening early in January of the Sinulog Trade Fair where you get to buy Cebuano specialty products without needing to travel far.
This year, the Sinulog Trade Fair in SM City Cebu features popular local products like ukulele and guitars; accessories and home furnishings made from seashell or wood; chicharon, torta, tableya, rosquillos, and other Cebuano delicacies; and even Pope Francis shirts.
Small enterprises from Tupi in South Cotabato, Zamboanga City, and Laguna are also selling their products at the fair.
In the rows of stalls, you’ll see guitars and ukulele from Lapu-Lapu City, accessories like bangles, charm bracelets, earrings, necklaces, handbags, clutches, and purses by handicraft enterprises; home furnishings made of shells, wood, or rattan from manufacturers in Banilad and Minglanilla in Cebu; native food like the torta and tableya from Argao, and chicharon from Chilen in Guadalupe.
Titay’s rosquillos and other pastries are also sold at the Sinulog Trade Fair, making it a good source of pasalubong or bring-home gifts from Cebu.
Opened a few days ago, the Sinulog Trade Fair will continue up to January 18 or later, if organizers decide to extend it.
We tried out the spicy dark chocolate from the Kablon Farms in Tupi, South Cotabato and bought some of the Arabica and Robusta coffee bean varieties harvested from Mt. Matutum. These were delicious.
At one stall, we discovered the yellow chicharon, a favorite childhood snack, that we used to buy for P1 a pack. Only, it costs P35 and came all the way from Laguna.
There are Pashmina scarves sold by a vendor from Zamboanga City.
Department of Trade and Industry 7 Director Asteria Caberte, in a newspaper report, said there are 46 exhibitors in the 2015 Sinulog Trade Fair. Of this number, she added, 34 are micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) from Cebu while 12 come from Bohol, Baguio, Manila, Laguna, South Cotabato, and Davao.
The vendors, which occupy 56 stalls, sell at the lower ground floor of SM City Cebu.
More Sinulog Trade Fair photos (click or tap on them to enlarge)
