Festivals

Filipino festivals or fiestas are highlights of the Philippine cultural landscape. They are a chance to savor the many flavors of the country’s cultural diversity, and an opportunity to experience some things very Filipino, like religiosity, folklore, and the legendary Filipino hospitality.

Filipinos celebrates festivals all-year round across the country. Every January, The Feast of the Black Nazarene opens the month to honor the miraculous wooden statue of Jesus Christ carried by male devotees during the procession held in historic Quiapo Church in Manila. This is followed by Kalibo Aklan’s Ati-Atihan Festival in honor of the thirteenth-century land deal between ten migrating Bornean chieftains and the indigenous Ati King Marikudo. It also honors the town patron, the Christ Child, or the Sto. Niño, celebrated on the third week of the month. The Sinulog Festival of Cebu, hailed as one of the grandest, most distinguished, and most colorful festivals in the Philippines, also falls on this month. This major festival is held each year on the third Sunday of January to honor the Santo Niño, who is the Patron of Cebu. It is fundamentally a dance ritual which remembers the Filipino people’s pagan past and its recognition and eventual adoption of Christianity.

Aklan’s pride, the Ati-Atihan Festival.

The captivating Sinulog Festival, with the dancers in their colorful costumes.

Other festivals include the Biniray, a festival parade in Romblon. There is also Daro Sinulog of Dumaguete Negros Oriental, which is a moving pageantry depicting the Holy Child’s conversion of pagan tribes. Another one is the Caracol sa Makati held every last Sunday of the month; it is a presentation by groups of people dressed as endangered flora and fauna to express the need to preserve and conserve our natural heritage. The Dinagyang Festival in Iloilo City ends the month; it is also one festival not to be missed out on, what with the costumes of warriors and the pounding rhythm of drums.

Dinagyang Festival

The month of February is also filled with colorful festivities. To top the list, the Penagbenga Festival of Baguio City reveals the unique culture of the city. Multi-hued costumes are worn, mimicking the various blooms of the highland region. Other festivals of this month are the Tinagba of Bicol, the Tawo-Tawo of Bayaan City Negros, the Dia de Zamboanga of Zamboanga City, the Sambalilo of Parañaque, the Suman of Baler in Aurora Province, and the Kalilangan of General Santos City.

The Bukidnon townfolks get so busy in the month of March because of their Kaamulan Festival, and the Boholanos shift into fiesta mode with their historical Sandugo celebrated every 16th day of March. Sandugo is a reenacment of the Blood Compact between Spain’s Miguel Lopez de Legazpi and Datu Sikatuna. The Bangkero Festival of Pagsanjan showcases decorated boats every last Sunday of May. The province of Quezon holds its annual celebration of the Pahiyas Festival in gratitude for a bountiful harvest.

Pahiyas Festival

The Pintados Festival of Tacloban City, Leyte is also a fun-filled fiesta as locals decorate themselves with body paint to the frantic beat of drums. Davao City has the Kadayawan, which features colorful, orchid-bedecked floats, and more than a dozen ”ethnic” groups dancing to the beat of wooden drums.

These and more are just some of the breathtaking festivals celebrated annually all over the Philippines. If you want to know more of Filipino culture, join the party and dance to your heart’s delight as you discover the distinctively Filipino way of living.

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