Fried rice enough for 16,000 servings will be the centerpiece of the 17th Hotel and Restaurant Tourism (HRT) Weekend here next month.

In a briefing on Monday, Hotel and Restaurant Association of Baguio (HRAB) president and Baguio Country Club (BCC) general manager Anthony de Leon said the fried rice will be served to the public at SM City to kick off HRT Weekend on Oct. 3.

All Thursdays to Sundays of October are designated as HRT Weekends.

“The rice and shine event is a collaboration of many HRAB member establishments, a purely private initiative as part of the tourism promotion of the city,” he said.

From 2020 to 2023, the HRT Weekend featured giant wedding cakes.

Last year, a giant cake was sliced into 12,000 and served during the mass wedding of 11 couples.

The HRT Weekend that started here in 2007 was initially participated in by local schools and industry workers.

It has expanded to accommodate stakeholders and schools from the Ilocos, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon and Cordillera regions.

HRAB chair Jeff Ng said the eight participating establishments will serve fried rice with different ingredients.

Dino Florendo, BCC executive chef and in-charge of the centerpiece event, said at least 3.5 cavans of long grain raw rice will be used.

“Each of the establishment is given the free hand to use their own recipes and their choice of ingredients,” he said.

The HRT Weekend has become a venue for students taking tourism-related coursed to test their skills while participants become on-the-job-trainees and eventually hired as regular workers.

“They are sources of available skills and manpower for the industry that is getting back on its feet after the pandemic,” Ng said. (PNA)