I was on my way out to bike when I noticed a lot of activity near the lake. I asked around and the people said that it was a celebration of the 9^th Tilapia Festival.  This is a yearly festival held in San Pablo City and organized by the Seven Lakes Integrated Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Management Council (FARMC). 

Tilapia is one of the most common farmed fish in the Philippines. In the seven lakes of our City, most fishcages grow Tilapia. The scientific name of Tilapia is Oreochromis Niloticus. It has a fleshy meat and nice taste. It is one of my favourite fishes whether fried, grilled, baked or steamed.

The Tilapia Festival is a time for fun and bonding of the fisherfolk and the other stakeholders.  Today they started with an opening program followed by a fun run participated in by fisherfolk families from the seven lakes. Then they had a 14-meter grilling station of Tilapia (of course) and more fun and games. They had a Balsa Regatta (rafts) where each lake was represented by their team colors. Even their rafts were color coded.

The Tilapia Festival is a fun activity to end the summer and focus on the livelihood of the fisherfolk. It is also time for showing off their other skills like sports and cooking.  They even had a beauty pageant but I didn?t get to watch it.