The Philippines are known for their natural beauty. But some of the best travel experiences in the Philippines are cultural ones. Filipino people have a rich culture that they don’t mind sharing with tourists, and they love to throw a festival! The Philippines were under Spanish colonial rule for over 500 years. And their culture is heavily influenced by the Catholic traditions of Spanish missionaries. Festivals honoring the lives of saints or celebrating Christian holidays have mingled with the traditional native culture over the years. Creating a cultural heritage unlike any other. Here are 10 of the famous festivals to plan your trip to the Philippines around.
Sinulog Festival
The Sinulog Festival is held in Cebu City, in the Central Visayas Region. It is celebrated every third week in January and honors the Santo Nino (the Holy Child Jesus). The word Sinulog means “like the water current” and is the name of a dance step often used to dance through the streets at this festival.
Over a million people from throughout the region come to Cebu City to celebrate with costumes and dancing in a long parade through the city. There are religious rites and celebrations alongside food, parties, and plenty of drinking. A highlight is the street dancing competition, where participants come from all over the world to compete and celebrate.
Dinagyang Festival
The very next weekend, head to Iloilo City to find the Dinagyang Festival. Celebrated every fourth weekend in January, Dinagyang rivals its earlier neighbor in world-renown and number of attendants. This festival also celebrates the Santo Nino and also draws crowds in the millions.
The main event at Dinagyang is the long parade down the Iloilo River, starting with a religious procession and followed by revelers in colorful costumes. There is a tribal dance competition, which features Dagyang dances and traditional drumming. Spectators can watch the dancing and join in the fun with food and street parties.
Masskara Festival
Bacolod City, known as “the smiling city,” is home to the Masskara Festival every October in the Philippines. The biggest festival in the Philippines in terms of attendance, over 3 million people attend Masskara from around the world. The festival was started during a period of economic crisis and has persisted to this day to celebrate the city and the people of Bacolod.
The name Masskara comes from the Filipina word mascara, which means mask. It is also a combination of the word mass meaning “many” and kara meaning “faces.” Performers, relievers, and spectators alike all wear smiling masks in honor of the city’s name, and they are often hand-painted and decorated with feathers, flowers. A variety of events keeps the festival raging for 20 days, including trade fairs, garden shows, dance competitions, pageants, and food festivals. This is one party you won’t want to miss.
Ati-Atihan Festival
The Ati-Atihan Festival is the oldest and most famous Filipino festival and has been celebrated for over 800 years. Held in Kalibo, Aklan on the third Sunday in January, this festival honors the Santo Nino. It was actually the inspiration for the other popular festivals also held in January—Dinagyang Festival and Sinulog Festival. The origins of this festival are pagan, but when the Spanish came in the 1500s, they turned the festival into a Christian celebration.
Travelers to the Philippines will love this festival as guests are welcomed and spectators are free to jump into the parade to dance and sing with the performers. Mouth-watering traditional food and drink accompany the merriment, which extends for the following week.
Pahiyas Festival
The Pahiyas Festival celebrated in Lucban, Quezon is a harvest festival celebrating creativity and abundance. It has its roots in the Catholic tradition, where farmers would bring their harvests into the church for the priest to bless. Later, for convenience’s sake, the farmers started displaying their harvests at their homes and the priest would visit. More and more pageantry was added until the modern version became full of parades, competitions, and exhibitions.
Most notable is the house decorating contest in memory of the harvest displays at the root of the celebrations. Locals show off their creativity by decorating their houses in produce and colored rice wafers, then townsfolk and tourists alike visit and parade past the decorated homes.
Panagbenga Festival
Known as “The Festival of Blooming Flowers,” Panagbenga is celebrated for the whole month of February until the first Sunday in March in Baguio City. Panagbenga means “a season for blossoming”. The festival goes to show that Filipinos need very little excuse to throw a festival—even something as simple as a flower will do!
The Grand Parade is the main event, featuring floats covered in flowers. Other flower-themed events are floral covered performance artists, trade markets, and street dancing. The festival has also become popular in recent years for its celebrity appearances.
Moriones Festival
The Moriones Festival in Marinduque City is held during Holy Week or the week before the Christian celebration of Easter in March or April. Participants were Roman armor, complete with tunics, and carry spears in honor of the Roman centurion Longinus, an early convert to Christianity. The story goes that Longinus, who was blind in one eye, was the soldier who pierced Jesus in the side. As the blood from the wound fell, it splashed onto his blind eye and healed him so that he could see through it.
The festive costumes and masks make this event a treat to see when visiting Marinduque. Participants playfully scare children as they look for Longinus among the crowds. Then the whole town shuts down to watch the reenactment of the Passion of the Christ in the streets. Culminating in Longinus’s appearance and conversion to Christianity.
Pintados-Kasadayan Festival
Tacloban City is home to the Pintados-Kasadayan Festival every June 29. The Spanish called the native people of the area—the Leyte and Samar tribespeople—“pintados” or “painted ones” because of their many tattoos. Kasadayan is the Visayan word for “merriment” and the festival celebrates Filipinos’ native heritage as well as the well-celebrated Santo Nino.
The Pintados-Kasadayan Festival consists of parades, costumes, and ornate body paint inspired by the tribal warriors. Many members of the native tribes show off their tattoos and it is truly a special event worthy of addition to any travel itinerary.
Giant Lantern Festival
San Fernando, the Christmas capital of the Philippines, holds the Giant Lantern Festival the weekend before Christmas Eve every year. The giant Christmas-themed lanterns measure up to 15 feet in diameter and must be crafted from local materials.
Residents of San Fernando compete by neighborhood and build the lanterns together. They parade the completed giant lanterns through the streets and set them afloat on Christmas Eve.
Kadayawan Festival
The Kadayawan Festival held in the third week of August in Davao City. It is a unique Filipino festival notable for its lack of Christian influences. It is a harvest festival and celebration of local abundance. The name Kadayawan is derived from the word madayaw which means “valuable” or “good” and is a greeting in the Davao Region.
The festival consists of street performances, food festivals, dance competitions, and beauty competitions. Highlights include fruit displays, orchid growing competitions, and the crowning of Miss Kadayawan at the end of the week.
Leave a reply