The city government here will attempt to set a record for the world’s longest chicken grilling event during the return of the Bacolod Chicken Inasal Festival on May 26 to 28.

Preparations for the staging of the festival last held in 2019 are underway to highlight Bacolod as the home of the Manokan Country, famous for its chicken inasal or charcoal-grilled chicken.

Maria Teresa Manalili, chief tourism operations officer, said on Thursday the aim is to set up grills longer than the one showcased during the festival four years ago.

“In the last Chicken Inasal Festival, the longest was 300 meters. We would like to surpass that with whatever resources we have. Of course, with our Mayor (Alfredo Abelardo Benitez), who is aiming for something record-breaking,” she said in an interview.

Manalili said they will ask the Manokan Country grillers, Department of Tourism-accredited restaurants, and socio-civic clubs to participate in the grilling event, which will take place during the last day of the festival at Megaworld’s The Upper East.

The Guinness World Records has listed the longest barbecue set by the people of Bayambang, Pangasinan during the Malangsi Fish-tival in 2014, where 50,000 kilograms of fish were grilled.

For this year’s Chicken Inasal Festival, the city government has tapped Headrush Multimedia headed by Ryan Anthony Saez as the third-party organizer, which has identified three festival sites.

Aside from The Upper East near the Bacolod City Government Center, other locations include the North Capitol Road along the Provincial Capitol Lagoon, and the famous Manokan Country, a row of food stalls serving chicken inasal, located at the Reclamation Area.

On May 26, the festival will kick off at the North Capitol Road with a tasting and pairing event to introduce chicken “not only as a simple dish but a perfect pair for various brews”.

A Grand Inasal Tasting Pavilion will feature guest chefs and their inasal renditions in a pairing challenge.

“This is inspired by the Food and Wine Classic in Aspen, Colorado,” Saez said.

In this event, the city’s “classic inasal players” such as Chicken House, Nena’s, Aida’s, among others, will also be showcased.

On May 27, the Chicken Inasal Awards will be staged at the Manokan Country to recognize the choice inasal in various categories and honor the chicken inasal “pioneers and legends” in Bacolod.

A Barangay Inasal Cook-Off will be held on the same day, which will be preceded by a pre-event workshop.

During the closing ceremony, Manila-based chef and restaurateur Sandy Daza’s chicken inasal rendition will be replicated by local chefs and served to the guests.

Last November, the City Council approved the Chicken Inasal Cultural Property Rights Ordinance, declaring the dish as a cultural property of Bacolod and seeking to list the chicken inasal as a local important cultural property with the Philippine Registry of Cultural Property under the National Commission for Culture and the Arts.

A month before that, online food critic TasteAtlas.com ranked chicken inasal as the fifth best chicken dish in the world, describing it as a “unique Filipino grilled chicken which originated in Bacolod City and became the signature dish of the entire Visayas region”.

Councilor Celia Flor said the chicken inasal is not an exclusive property of Bacolod, but a cultural property, which Bacolod is known for.

“When you say tasty chicken inasal, Bacolod comes to mind, especially Manokan Country. One concept of the festival is to promote Manokan Country as an icon of Bacolod,” she said.

In the first two editions in 2018 and 2019, the highlights of the Chicken Inasal Festival were the grilling of thousands of chicken parts on charcoal grills lined up along Araneta Street in the downtown area. (PNA)