ARYTS

• Festivals are part of the Filipino culture
• Every community of city has at least one local festival of its own, usually on the feast day of its patron saint to celebrate bountiful harvest
• The most elaborate and longest festival of all is Christmas, a season celebrated with all the display and shows the fun-loving Filipino culture and traditions
• Pahiyas Festival


  An old-age celebration dating back to the sixteenth century, the word "pahiyas" means "precious offering" as connoted by the root word "hiyas", which means "jewel"
• Legends have it that San Isidro Labrador magically plowed the field every time he went out of the church, this story was passed on by the Spaniards to the Filipinos during the colonial period
• Pahiyas Festival


  The townfolks' way of saying "thank you" for a bountiful harvest
• Pahiyas Festival


  Celebrated every May 15, selected streets of Lucban come to life with vibrant colors as people decorate their houses with colorful rice wafers, locally called "kiping", arranged in layers of chandeliers
• Kiping


  Made from rice dough and the local residents use different kinds of leaves to add flavor and color to the thin wafers
• Pahiyas Festival


  The festival's highlight is a procession on the streets of Lucban where the image of San Isidro Labrador is carried by devotes as people eagerly await the passing of the image, the procession features a pair of giant paper-mâché figures of a farmer and his wife, which lead the procession, followed by the images of San Isidro Labrador and Sta. Maria de la Cabeza, who carries a basket with triangle biscuits, distributed to the children during the procession
• The celebration's culminating event is a grand food sharing among the residents and guests
• Higantes Festival


  Also known as the Feast of San Clemente, celebrated every November 23 in the town of Angono, Rizal, in honor of San Clemente, the patron saint of fishermen
• Higantes Festival


  His image carried by male devotees during a procession accompanied by "pahadores" (devotees dressed in colorful local costumes or fishermen's clothes, wearing wooden shoes and carrying boat paddles, fish nets, traps, among others.) and "higantes" (papier-mâché giants measuring 10-12 feet in height and 4-5 feet in diameter)
• The street event ends in a procession to Laguna de Bay until the image is brought back to its sanctuary
• The townspeople wear colorful costumes, and hold a big procession featuring big paper-mâché caricatures of their Spanish landlords – an art form imported from Mexico by Spanish friars
• Higantes


  Multi-colored, humongous, comical, and sometimes scary 12-footers
• The Higantes Festival is part of a two-week celebration of the Angono town fiesta
• Higantes Festival Activities


  Misa Cantada (a special sung mass), novena, song and dance contests, fried itik festival and cooking competition, the race of the higantes, and the procession of the pagoda, a procession is held throughout the town, thousands of revelers splash water on unsuspecting participants and onlookers using water bottles, squirt guns, and even drinking glasses, spraying water on everyone passing by
• Moriones Festival


  An annual festival held during the Holy Week in Marinduque, the Moriones are men and women in costumes and masks replicating the garb of biblical Roman soldiers as interpreted by the locals
• Morion


  Means "mask" or "visor", which is a part of the medieval Roman armor that covers the face
• Moriones


  The masked and costumed penitents who march around the town for seven days searching for Longinus
• This is a folk religious festival that reenacts the story of Saint Longinus, a Roman centurion who was blind in one eye
• Moriones Festival


  The festival is characterized by colorful Roman costumes, painted masks and helmets, and brightly colored tunics, during this festival, the towns of Boac, Gasan, Santa Cruz, Buenavista, Mogpog in the island of Marinduque become one gigantic stage as part of their tradition during the Lenten season, various towns also hold the tradition of pabasa or the recitation of Christ's life and death in verse, then at three o'clock on Good Friday afternoon, the Santo Sepulcro is observed, where old women exchange verses based on the Bible as they stand in wale of the dead Christ, one of the highlights of this festival is the Via Crucis, the reenactment of the suffering of Christ on his way to Calvary, men inflict suffering upon them by whipping their backs, carrying a wooden cross and sometimes even crucifixion, they see this act as their form of atonement for their sins
• Sinulog


  Comes from the Cebuano word "sulog" which means "like water current movement", it describes the forward-backward movement of the Sinulog dance
• Sinulog Dance


  Consists of two steps forward and one step backward, done to the sound of drums, categorised into sinulog-base, free interpretation, and street dancing, candle vendors at the church continue to perform the traditional version of the dance when lighting a candle for the costumer, usually accompanied by songs in the native language
• Sinulog Festival


  The Sinulog celebration lasts for nine days, culminating on the final day with the Sinulog Grand Parade, the day before the parade the religious fluvial procession sponsored by the Archdiocese of Cebu is held at dawn with a statue of the Santo Niño carried on a beautifully decorated pump boat which sails from Mandaue City to Cebu City, decked with hundreds of flowers and candles, the procession ends at the Basilica Minore del Santo Niño de Cebu where a reenactment of the baptism to the Christian faith (that is, the acceptance of Roman Catholicism) of Cebu is performed, in the afternoon, a more solemn procession takes place along the major streets of Cebu City, which lasts for hours due to a large crowd participating in the event
• On April 15, 1521, the Portugese explorer Ferdinan Magellan arrived and planted the Cross on the shores of Cebu, claiming the territory for Spain, he presented the image of the child Jesus, the Santo Niño, as baptismal gift to Hara Amihan, wife of Rajah Humabon
• Hara Humamay (or Amihan in some versions) was later named Queen Juana in honor of Juana, mother of Carlos I. along with the rulers of the island, some 800 natives were also baptized to the Roman Catholic Church
• At the moment of receiving the holy image, it was said that Queen Juana danced with joy bearing this image of the child Jesus, with the other natives following her example, this moment was regarded as the first Sinulog
• Sinulog Dance Steps


  Believed to originate from Rajah Humabon's adviser, Baladhay, it was during Humabon's grief when Baladhay was driven sick, Humabon ordered his native tribe to bring Baladhay into a room where the Santo Niño was enthroned, along with the other pagan gods of the native Cebuanos, after few days passed, Baladhay was heard shouting and was found dancing with utmost alertness, Baladhay explained that he had found on top of him a small child trying to wake him and tickling him with the midrib of the coconut, the little child got up and explained that he was dancing the movements of the river, to this day, the two-step forward, one-step backward movement is still used by Santo Niño devotees who believe that it was the Santo Niño's choice to have Baladhay dance
• Dinagyang Festival


  A religious and cultural festival in Iloilo City held every fourth Sunday of January, or right after the Sinulog in Cebu and the Ati-Atihan in Aklan, it is held both to honor the Santo Niño and to celebrate the arrival on Panay of Malay settlers and the subsequent selling of the island to them by the Atis
• Dinagyang Festival


  In the beginning, the observance of the feast was confined to the parish, the Confradia patterned the celebration on the Ati-Atihan of Ibajay, Aklan, where natives dance in the streets, their bodies covered with soot and ashes, to simulate the atis dancing to celebrate the sale of Panay, today, the main part of the festival consists of a number of "tribus" (tribes) who are supposed to be ati tribe members dancing in celebration, performers paint their skin brown and use indigenous materials for their costumes, all dances are performed with the beat of the drum
• Kadayawan Festival


  An annual festival in the city of Davao, its name came from the local greeting "madayaw," from the word "dayaw", which means "good", the festival is a celebration of life, a thanksgiving for the gifts of nature, the wealth of culture, the bounties of harvest, and serenity of living
• Kadayawan Festival


  Various farming implements, fruits, flowers, vegetables, rice, and corn grains are displayed on mats as villagers give their respect and gratitude for the year's harvest, singing, dancing, and offering to their divine protectors are the highlights of this ritual, although times have changed, this practice of thanksgiving, or "pahinungod", is still practiced by modern-day Davaoeños
• The Kadayawan Festival has transformed into a festival of festivals, with a number of spin-off festivals in the region
• Panagbenga Festival


  A month-long annual flower festival celebrated in the city of Bagiuo, the term is of Malayo-Polynesian origin, meaning "season of blooming", the festival is held during the month of February, was created as a tribute to the city's flowers and as a way to rise up from the devastation of the 1990 Luzon earthquake
• Panagbenga Festival


  The festival includes floats that are decorated with flowers, it also includes street dancing, presented by dancers clas in flower-inspired costumes that are inspired by the Bendian, an Ibaloi dance of celebration that came from the Cordillera region
• Aside from boosting eco-tourism in the city, the Panagbenga Festival also helped the younger generation of indigenous people to rediscover their old traditions, the indigenous people were first warry with government-led tourism because of the threat that they will interfere or change their communities' rituals