Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Suman Festival
(Third week in Feb) Baler, Aurora. Another mardi-gras-
style extravaganza featuring street parades, dancing and floats decorated
with the native delicacy
suman
- sticky rice cake rolled in banana leaves.
Pahiyas
(May 15) Lucban, Quezon
W
pahiyasfestival.com; also
celebrated in the nearby towns of Candelaria, Tayabas, Sariaya,
Tiaong and Lucena. Colourful harvest festival which sees houses gaily
decorated with fruits and vegetables. It's held in honour of San Isidro
Labrador, the patron saint of farmers.
Obando Fertility Rites
(May 17-19) Obando, Bulacan. On the
feast day of San Pascual, women gather in the churchyard to chant
prayers asking for children, an intriguing combination of traditional
dance, Catholicism and far older animist beliefs.
MARCH AND APRIL
Moriones
(Easter weekend) Marinduque. A celebration of the life of
the Roman centurion Longinus, who was blind in one eye. Legend says
that when he pierced Christ's side with his spear, blood spurted into his
eye and cured him. See box, p.201.
Arya! Abra
(First or second week of March) Bangued, Abra.
Highlights include hair-raising bamboo-raft races along the frisky Abra
River and gatherings of northern tribes.
Bangkero Festival
(First or second week of March) Pagsanjan,
Laguna. Parade along the Pagsanjan River.
Kaamulan
(First week of March) Malaybalay City, Bukidnon,
Mindanao. Showcase of tribal culture and arts.
Pasayaw
(Third week of March) Canlaon City, Negros Oriental.
Thanksgiving festival to God and St Joseph, with twelve barangays
competing for honours in an outdoor dancing competition. The final
“dance-off ” is held in the city gym.
Boracay International Dragon Boat Festival
(April) Boracay,
Aklan. A local version of Hong Kong's dragon-boat races, featuring
domestic and international teams competing in long wooden canoes on
a course off White Beach.
Allaw Ta Apo Sandawa
(Second week of April)
Kidapawan City,
Cotabato. Gathering of highland tribes to pay respects to the sacred
Mount Apo.
Turumba Festival
(April & May) Pakil, Laguna. Religious festival
commemorating the seven sorrows of the Virgin Mary. The festival
consists of seven novenas, one for each sorrow, held at weekends.
AUGUST AND SEPTEMBER
Kadayawan sa Davao
(Third week of Aug) Davao City, Mindanao.
Week-long harvest festival with civic and military parades and street dances.
Peñafrancia Fluvial Festival
(Third Sat in Sept) Naga, Camarines
Sur. A sacred statue of Our Lady of Peñafrancia, the patron saint of Bicol,
is paraded through the streets, then sailed down the Bicol River back to
its shrine.
OCTOBER
Kansilay
(Oct 19 or closest weekend) Silay, Negros Occidental.
Modern festival commemorating Silay's charter day. Eating and drinking
contests, beauty pageants and an elaborate street parade.
Ibalong
(Third week of Oct) Legaspi, Albay and throughout Bicol
region. Epic dances and street presentations portraying Bicol's mythical
superheroes and gods.
Lanzones Festival
(Third week of Oct) Lambajao, Camiguin.
Vibrant and good-natured outdoor party giving thanks for the island's
crop of lanzones (a tropical fruit). See p.412.
Masskara Festival
(Third week of Oct) Bacolod, Negros Occidental
W
bacolodmasskarafestival.com. Festivities kick off with food fairs,
mask-making contests, brass-band competitions and beauty pageants,
followed by the climax - a mardi gras parade where revellers don
elaborate mask and costumes and dance to Latin rhythms Rio de
Janeiro-style. See p.307.
MAY
Flores de Mayo
(Throughout May) Countrywide. Religious procession
celebrating the coming of the rains, with girls dressed as the various
“Accolades of our Lady”, including Faith, Hope and Charity. Processions are
sometimes held after dark and lit by candles - a lovely sight.
Carabao Carroza
(May 3-4) Iloilo, Panay Island. Races held to
celebrate the humble carabao (water buffalo), beast of burden for many a
provincial farmer.
DECEMBER
Christmas
(December 25). The Christmas season o
cially starts Dec 16
and lasts until Epiphany on Jan 9. Churches are full for Midnight Mass on
Christmas Eve, and some towns hold a Panunulúyan pageant in the days
ALL SAINTS' DAY
It's the day for Catholic Filipinos to honour their dead, but
All Saints' Day
on
November 1
is
nothing to get maudlin about. Sometimes called All Souls' Day, it's when clans reunite at family
graves and memorials, turning cemeteries throughout the country into fairgrounds. You don't
pay your respects in the Philippines by being miserable, so All Saints' Day is a chance to show
those who have gone before how much those who have been left behind are prospering.
Filipinos approach All Saints' Day with the same gusto as Christmas, running from shop to
shop at the last minute looking for candles to burn, food and offerings. The grave is painted,
flowers are arranged and rosaries fervently prayed over, but once the ceremonial preliminaries
are over, the fun begins. Guitars appear, capacious picnic hampers are opened and alcohol
flows freely. Many families gather the night before and sleep in the cemetery. With many
family graves in the provinces, Manila empties fast the day before All Saints' Day, people
leaving the city by anything on wheels. Needless to say, it's a bad time to travel.
