The Next Best Thing to Building a Gigantic Mosaic

A town in the Philippines makes it into the Guinness Book of World Records during their Puto Festival. The festival is an annual event in Calasiao, Pangasinan which celebrates the residents’ love for puto, a delicious type of rice cake made in the Philippines. In fact, the town is known for being the “Puto Capital” of the country.

So in 2017, the residents led by their town mayor decided to make a gigantic puto – and not just a puto but a massive mosaic. The thing about making mosaics is that it’s like piecing up a jigsaw puzzle – and we mean a colossal JIGSAW puzzle.

So how were they able to do it?

To beef up the local puto industry, the Calasiao government commissioned 30 local puto makers and vendors. Then, they had to prepare 70 tables inside the town’s gym where they would piece up the puzzle.

The most complicated part of the puzzle was the design. Deciding where in the puzzle the different colours and pieces would go to was a painstaking process. This alone took 5 days to accomplish. There were 85 volunteers working 3 shifts to make sure the project would be successful. And of course, it required a lot of creative imagination from the organisers.

The mosaic was an image of a boy happily receiving a puto from his grandfather. It took 320,000 pieces to make this impressive mosaic.

Image c/o Inquirer.net

Rightly so, the people of Calasiao succeeded in putting their gigantic rice cake mosaic into the Guinness Book of World Records. They were able to beat the previous record from Japan in 2012. In fact, it was 4 times larger and 4 times the number of rice cakes! It was a magnanimous achievement for the 95,000 people of Calasiao, Pangasinan!

Mosaics vs Jigsaw Puzzles

The obvious difference between mosaics and jigsaw puzzles is their size, with the former being more massive. Jigsaw puzzles are meant to be playthings that many people enjoy individually or with friends and family to relieve stress and have fun. Mosaics, on the other hand, are meant for public display and require more effort, workers, and funding. However, there are times when jigsaw puzzle enthusiasts bring their hobby to the next level, like Graham Andrew, a renowned jigsaw puzzle enthusiast from Reepham, Norfolk.

The way mosaics and jigsaw puzzles function is the same. You have to assemble the pieces rightly, carefully noting the colours and shapes, and making sure that each piece is on the right spot. Once finished, the satisfaction of seeing the complete image is truly immense.

Here at Mr Toys, we don't sell rice cakes and we don’t make mosaics either. But we do offer some amazing jigsaw puzzles that you can enjoy piecing up together. We also have large jigsaw puzzles for the entire family to enjoy and play with. Working with your family or friends in assembling a jigsaw puzzle is the next best thing to piecing up a gigantic mosaic!

Check out our range of fantastic jigsaw puzzles now!