The Puto Festival in Calasiao, Pangasinan took on a twist as participants showcased their creativity and culinary skills in the "Best Ways to Serve Puto" competition during the 2023 Puto Festival.

Participants demonstrated their ingenuity in creating delectable dishes using Puto as the main ingredient. 

Among the entries were the Ham Potato Ala Con Puto, Cold Cuts Con Puto, Puto Pizza, Puto Bomb, and many others.

"Pagod pero masarap sa pakiramdam na nagawa namin best namin… nagawa namin yung best ko para lang matikman ng taumbayan dito sa Calasiao," Thelma Agsalud, one of the participants, said. 

"Christmas is here already so the theme, so we think of something na sine-serve sa Christmas. We conserve our energy, our time, [and] of course money in serving it," Dr. Digna Bauzon, another participant, says.

The event also featured attention-grabbing Puto mosaics with various Christmas-themed designs crafted by local Puto producers.

"Kami ay natutuwa tuwing Puto Festival kasi naipro-promote hindi lang sa Pangasinan kundi buong pilipinas, at [yung] iba pa umaabot sa abroad," Benjie Corpuz, a Puto producer, says.

The local government aims to revitalize the Puto industry in the town through the annual celebration of the Puto Festival.

Editha Gorospe, the event coordinator, emphasized the significance of the festival:

"Every year, every December, we celebrate the Puto Festival to support our producers and vendors of Puto. We do this to further promote the products of Calasiao," Gorospe says.