MORIONES FESTIVAL

PANAGBENGA FESTIVAL

HOT AIR BALLOON FIESTA

HIGANTES FESTIVAL

Finally the long wait is over. It’s been a year that I’d been waiting Higantes Festival. I was in Ilocos last year that is why I was not able to witness this gigantic fiesta. I invited my good friend Miko to join me to attend and have fun in Higantes.

Higantes Festival highlights the annual celebration of the people of Angono, Rizal. This festival features a larger than life paper-mache. It is also pays tribute in honor of San Clemente, the patron saint of the fishermen. Those higantes depicts image of famous personalities and some local farmers and fishermen. The streets of Angono are filled with locals and tourists waiting for the grand parade of the higantes, majorettes, bands and floats. The higantes were wearing a colorful costumes and dance gracefully in sync with the drum beats of the musicians that following them. After the parade there is a cultural presentation by different schools of Angono.

Angono Rizal is also the hometown of the two great national artists Carlos “Botong” Francisco and Professor Lucio San Pedro.  Francisco is a famous painter while San Pedro is music genius. Along the Dona Aurora St. in Baranggay Poblacion Itaas displays an array of mural/sculptured walls depicting the famous paintings of Francisco. Most of the murals are pictures of rural life.  The walls show the creativity and love for the arts of the townspeople.

The town of Angono is dubbed as the art capital of the Philippines.

How to get there:

From MRT Shaw Boulevard / EDSA Central ride a jeep bound for Angono or Binangonan. Fare is P30.00.

Know more about Angono, Rizal by visiting there website angono.gov.ph.

FESTIVAL IN THE PHILIPPINES

  dinagyang festival | photo courtesy of onlinetravelersguide.blogspot.com

January

• 9^th | FEAST OF BLACK NAZARENE | Quiapo Manila

• 13^th -19^th  | ATI-ATIHAN FESTIVAL | Kalibo Aklan

• 3^rd Sunday |  SINULOG FESTIVAL | Cebu  

• 4^th Sunday | DINAGYANG FESTIVAL | Iloilo

hotair baloon | photo courtesy of homeescapade.com

February

• 2^nd week | HOT AIR BALLOON | Clark Field Angeles Pampanga

• 4^th – 10^th  | PAMULINAWEN FESTIVAL | Laoag Ilocos Norte

• 4^th week | PANAGBENGA FESTIVAL | Baguio

March

• 1^st Sunday | PARAW REGATA | Iloilo

moriones festival | photo courtesy of phillipinen-reisen.com

April

• Holyweek | MORIONES FESTIVAL  | Marinduque

• 2^nd week | MANGGAHAN FESTIVAL | Guimaras

• 4^th week | ALIWAN FIESTA | PICC Pasay

pahiyas festival

May

• 15th | PAHIYAS FESTIVAL | Lucban Quezon

• 1^st-31^st | FLORES DE MAYO / SANTACRUZAN

• 17^th – 19^th | OBANDO FERTILITY RITES | Obando Bulacan

June 

• 24^th | PARADA NG LECHON | Balayan Batangas

• 29^th | PINTADOS FESTIVAL | Tacloban

August 

• 3^rd week | KADAYAWAN FESTIVAL | Davao 

July

• 1^st – 2^nd | SANDUGO FESTIVAL | Tagbilaran Bohol

September

• 16^th – 18^th | LEMLUNAY (T’BOLI TRIBAL FESTIVAL) Lake Sebu South Cotabato

• 3^rd  Saturday  | FEAST OF NUESTRA SENORA DE PENAFRANCIA | Naga

October

• 3^rd week | MASSKARA FESTIVAL | Bacolod

November

• 23^rd  | HIGANTES FETIVAL | Angono Rizal

December

• 15^th – 19^th | SHARIFF KABUNSUAN FESTIVAL | Cotabato

PAHIYAS FESTIVAL

Pahiyas Festival is a colorful feast celebrated every 15th of May by the people of Lucban, Quezon in honor of San Isidro Labrador. It is the farmers' thanksgiving for a bountiful harvest with a grand display of colorful rice wafers, fruits, vegetables, and handicrafts adorning every house in the town.

The festival's name comes from the Filipino terms hiyas (jewel) and pahiyas (precious offering). This feast is an ancient farmers' harvest celebration that dates back to the 16th century. According to legend, San Isidro Labrador magically plowed the field whenever he went out of the church. This is the story that the Spaniards passed on to the Philippines from Mexico during their colonial period. Since then, the Pahiyas Festival has been a source of excitement for the locals and visitors of Quezon Province.

The highlight of the festival is a procession along the streets of the image of San Isidro Labrador, to ensure the people's bountiful harvest in the coming seasons. The procession features a pair of giant papier mâché figures of a farmer and his wife. This is followed by the image of the patron saint and his wife Sta. Maria de la Cabeza, who carries a basket with triangulo biscuits, which are given to the children during the procession. This culminates with generous sharing of food among the townspeople.

All the locals' houses are decorated with agricultural harvest (fruits, vegetables, rice grains, rice stalks, flowers, and ferns) and colorful rice wafers, called kiping. These thin wafers made from rice dough are usually arranged into two or three layers of chandeliers called aranya. The locals use different kinds of leaves to add flavor and color to the kiping. They also produce varieties of tastes and textures by using different ingredients such as kabal, coffee, talisay (umbrella tree), cocoa, and banaba leaves.

Each house tries to outdo each other in decorations in an annual competition as they vie for the honor of being recognized for their creativity. After the competition is over and the awards are handed over to the owners of the winning house, the decorations of the house will be thrown away to the huge flock of people as free treats. For the other houses, after the festival, those kipings that were used as decorations are cooked and eaten as rice chips. Also during the festival, the people display their harvest in front of their homes so that the parish priest can bless them as the procession passes by.