Giant Lantern Festival-San Fernando Pampanga

The Giant Lantern Festival is an annual festival held in December (Saturday before Christmas Eve) in the City of San Fernando in the Philippines. The festival features a competition of giant lanterns. Because of the popularity of the festival, the city has been nicknamed the "Christmas Capital of the Philippines".

The first lantern festival was held to honor President Manuel L. Quezon. At that time, Quezon made Arayat his rest area and converted Mount Arayat into a tourist resort. As a show of gratitude to Quezon, the people of San Fernando held a Christmas lantern contest to honor the first family. Quezon himself donated the prize for his lantern contest, which was personally awarded to the winner by First Lady Aurora Aragon Quezon.

In the years that followed, more innovations were introduced to the giant lanterns. Colored plastics replaced traditional papel de hapon. Large steel barrels called rotors also substituted the hand-controlled switches to manipulate the lights. And lanterns have grown in size, approximately 20-feet today, and illuminated by about 3,500 to 5,000 light bulbs.

source: wikipedia

According to Ivan Henares, the festival started from Bacolor.

The San Fernando lantern industry evolved from the Giant Lantern Festival of San Fernando. The festival, which is held every December, finds its roots in Bacolor where a much simpler activity was held. Following the transfer of the provincial capital from Bacolor to San Fernando in August of 1904, this parul event followed as well. "Ligligan Parul" was said to have started in San Fernando in the year 1904. But some say that the "Ligligan Parul" did not happen immediately after the transfer and in fact began in 1908.

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Ibalong Festival - Legazpi

photocredit: marty

The Ibalong Festival is a week long series of festivities celebrated from October 25 to 31 every year. The festival’s name is derived from one of the province’s foremost epic, the ‘Ibalong’ which detailed the myths and legends of the region long before the colonizers came. Apart from commemorating a cultural landmark, the Ibalong Festival is also a celebration of the province’s people and their resiliency, given the string calamities that regularly befall the region given its typhoon-proned geographical location.

Like most fiestas in the country, the main event of Ibalong Festival is its choreographed dances performed in the streets of Legazpi City. Such performances depict the numerous myths and legends contained in the Ibalong epic of the province and are done with the majestic visage of the Mayon Volcano, with its perfect cone, as their backdrop. The street dances are commonly performed by students from high schools throughout Albay and some times even from those outside of the province are invited to participate in the street dance which also doubles as a contest.

Being a week-long celebration, Ibalong Festival also features other merry-making actitvities aside from street dances. Other attractions include street parties, band concerts in the evening, flea markets in the streets of the city, drag races, and fireworks display. With the uniqueness of Bicolano cuisine, food fests and cooking demos are also one of the main features of the festival.

source: Legazpi festivals

Pahiyas Festival- Quezon

photocredit: pahiyas festival

Every year, thousands of tourist and holiday makers flock to this historic town commended as one of the cleanest and most peaceful community in the country. Its cool, fresh and invigorating climate earns her the singular distinction of being called the Summer Capital of Quezon Province. The town’s natural scenic spots and colorful lifestyles add to the charm that entices both foreign and local tourists to visit the place. The San Isidro Pahiyas Festival held every May 15 has become one of the country’s tourist attractions prompting the Department of Tourism to list down Lucban as a tourist town and a cultural heritage site. During the San Isidro Pahiyas Festival, each household tries to outdo each other in friendly competition as they vie for honor of recognizing their creativity. As incentives to their effort, prizes were given to the winning pahiyas based on a given criteria. This accounts for some of the most curious décor that the unstoppable spirit of the festival tends to show. Decking the hall or decorating the wall with “Kiping” and agricultural harvest is what “PAYAS” or “PAHIYAS” literally means. Farmers show their bountiful produce such as chayote, radish, pepper and grains of rice. There are miniatures locally known as “ANOK”, fruits, vegetables and longganisa (local sausage) strung together in the most original fashion. Residents engaging in other forms of livelihood display their products too in thanksgiving. The handicraft manufacturer has his house decked with colorful buri/buntal hats, bags, placemats and others while the butcher has a head of roasted suckling pig (lechon) peeking from the window. The most traditional and certainly the most attractive décor comes of course in the form of “KIPING” which are adorn and strung together to form all sorts of shapes, from chandelier called “ARANGYA” to huge flowers. Kiping is made from ground rice flour, shaped using “cabal” leaves or other leaf forms and colored in radiant red, fuschia, yellow, green and other bright shades. When kiping catches the light of the sun it turns into a veritable cascades of color. The celebration is a form of thanksgiving for a bountiful harvest and in honor of the patron saint of farmers, San Isidro de Labrador. A procession of the image of San Isidro is planned long before the festival and it is said that houses along the route of the procession passes will be especially favored and blessed in the coming year. It is from this belief that the lavish decoration of the home began. After all, one must welcome the saint’s blessings with rapture and gratitude.

source: Philippine fiestas and festivals

MAGAYON FESTIVAL-ALBAY

Magayon Festival

The Magayon Festival, though technically a festival for the whole province, is celebrated primarily in Legazpi City. The Magayon Festival derived its name from the word ‘magayon’ which translates to beautiful from Bicolano, the dominant language in the province of Albay and the adjacent regions. The festival was first enacted by the Albay’s governor and celebrated in 1998 to stimulate tourism in the province. It is basically a celebration of the province’s Catholic tradition and its unique traditional way of living thereby giving the festival a very local color which is perfect for those tourists who wants to experience Albay’s culture and heritage.

Aside from the usual Filipino way of celebrating festivals such as street dancing and communal feasting, the Magayon Festival also holds some attractions that feature and emphasizes Bicolano culture. One of such events is the regional cooking competition that aims to highlight the region’s unique culinary tradition. The contest focuses on the preparation of delicacies that are made using ingredients indigenous to Bicolano cuisine such as coconut and chili. The festivities of the Magayon Festival also include a marathon and an eco-camp, both of which are events aimed at fostering consciousness for the province’s environment, which is very much appropriate given Albay’s natural treasures such as the Mayon Volcano.

This festival is celebrated in the month of April.

source:Magayon Festival
For more about Magayon Festivals, see this.

PROCESSION OF THE BLACK NAZARENE, QUIAPO, MANILA

PROCESSION OF THE BLACK NAZARENE, QUIAPO, MANILA





Every 9th of January of the year and on Good Friday, a large procession takes
place through the streets of Quiapo, a small part of metro Manila. The procession which
dates back from the 17th centuryis joined by thousands of with the life-sized, black wooden statue of Jesus (of Nazarene). These men walk barefoot as a sign of humility.
The men yell "Viva Senor" to the Statue brought to Manila in 1606. People believe that a miracle can happen after touching it.


All participants in the procession hope that they will have the opportunity to touch the wooden statue. They hope that this will protect them from harm and ensure health in the future. Some of them follow the statue during the procession because they believe it is an atonement of their sins or hope for some miracle.


SINULOG FESTIVAL,Black Nazarene,Sto.Nino,Cebu City,Ati-Atihan

Simbang Gabi

Simbang Gabi






Christmas in the Philippines starts when the month of the year ends with the BER.

This is when radio stations start playing Christmas carols on the air. Ours is one country that celebrates a mixture of Western and native Christmas traditions.

We send Christmas cards, decorate our houses with Christmas trees, mistletoes, Santa Claus and long strings of lights.
Manila and Makati, the two prime cities are converted into little Paris because of the galore of lights.

The Filipino Chistmas traditions however begin in December 15 for the dawn mass or Simbang Gabi. Masses are held as early as 5' o clock in the morning for nine consecutive days which culiminate on December 24, Christmas eve.

Young people look forward to seeing their friends dressed in their best; office workers come in their work clothes and mothers come with their sleepy kids whose motivation to come is the bibingka and puto bumbong that they buy after the mass.


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