LUZON FESTIVAL

1. The Pahiyas Festival

Held on May 15 of every year, the Pahiyas Festival is carried out to give
thanks to San Isidro Labrador for the good harvest. It is one of the
countrys oldest festivals tracing its origin way back to the 16th century.
Back then, farmers bought food to the foot of Mt. Banahaw as a sign of
Thanksgiving, but eventually this tradition done in the hopes of having a
good harvest year was modified to make the church the central offering
place.
The Pahiyas is commonly associated with Lucban, Quezon, but it is also
celebrated in two other Quezon towns: Sariaya and Tayabas.
Why you should be there: Pahiyas is one of the most lively, most colorful and the most elaborate
festival in Luzon. The whole place comes alive in color and music. Not to mention Lucban
food that includes Lucbans world famous longanisa, broas and kiping, the star of the pahiyas.
2. Panagbenga Festival
It used to be that February was Baguio Citys least favorable month,
experiencing a doldrum in the number of visitor arrivals that usually peak in
December (for the holiday season) and March or April (for the Lenten
Season), on top of the summer months. However, with the introduction of
the Panagbenga Festival, February became a time of pageantry, fun and
merrymaking in Baguio City as the city becomes covered with the most
beautiful flowers in the region.
Together with its blooms, Panagbenga also showcases the different cultures
of its 11 tribes such as the Igorots and the Ibalois. In fact, the street dance of the Panagbenga
features dances that are inspired by these cultural tribes.
Why you should be there: Simultaneously get a taste of Baguios tribal culture and the
Tournament of Roses parade.
3. Fertility Dance at Obando
Couples who wish to have a child flock to Obando, Bulacan, and every
May 17 to 19 to join the street dance in Honor of Santa Clara. The street
dancing is said to be a prayer made by the couple. The belief stems
from early practice and is said to be effective, as some have been
miraculously blessed with an offspring soon after they joined the dancing.
Why you should be there: The benefits are obvious if you are childless,
but for other people, the Obando dance is only one of the very few
religious Luzon festivals that featured street dancing on a major part of the area.
4. Bangus Festival

Dagupan is known as the Bangus Capital of the Philippines, and the City
lays its claim to this by holding the Bangus Festival for 19 days in April,
culminating on April 28.
The bangus, or milkfish, festival pays tribute to the Citys biggest industry
and features various activities that center on the fish. From deboning to
eating, from the longest to the heaviest and even to the most beautiful, each
year attempts to put out a record with its bangus competitions.
Why you should be there: Aside from being there while the City or its citizens bag a possible
Guinness World Record, the festival also features street dancing contests, the search for the
Bangus Queen (a beauty pageant), fluvial parades, and a citywide sale for the shopaholics on a
budget!
5. Pagoda sa Wawa
Festivals are a time for celebration, but it is also a time for food. Bocaue,
Bulacans Pagoda sa Wawa combines both.
The river festival is held every July, when a barge carrying a huge decorated
float is released along the Bocaue River. This is where dozens and
possibly hundreds of people partake on good food and great music. The
floating feast actually commemorates Wawas Holy Cross, which was first
found floating on the Bocaue River.
Why you should be there: Experience a one-of-a-kind river feast. After a tragedy left dozens
of people dead a few years ago, the Wawa festival has been closely scrutinized to ensure the
safety of future pagoda riders.
6. Bacao Festival
If Dagupan has its Bangus Festival, Isabelas folks hold their Bacao
festival in honor of St. Joseph for their good harvest of corn. Like the
Bangus Festival, activities are more provincial featuring street dancing,
rodeos, float competitions, and other contests. Held for five days starting
on March 15.
Why you should be there: The Bacao Festival parades carabao dressed in
costumes, and has a contest for the best-dressed beast of burden.

VISAYAS FESTIVAL
1. Sinulog Festival
Location: Cebu City Philippines

The Sinulog Festival is held in Cebu and lasts well over a week, culminating
in the street parade or Mardi Gras that falls on the third Sunday of every
January. The feast venerates the Senyor Santo Nino de Cebu. For many years,
Cebus Sinulog has featured different activities such as the Miss Cebu beauty
pageant, the fluvial procession, the solemn street procession, the film-making
contests, the arts contests, among others. But most people, especially nonlocals, equate Sinulog with the Grand Parade.
During the Grand Sinulog Parade, dozens of contingents representing the different locales of
Cebu City and Cebu province take part in different categories: free interpretation dance,
traditional Sinulog dance, best float and best higantes. In the recent years, guest contingents
have been allowed to participate and join the Cebuanos in the fun dancing, including contingents
from Manila, other provinces and even other countries. Major thoroughfares of the city are
closed for this parade, as people flock the streets and the Abellana Sports Complex to watch the
pomp and pageantry, the burst of color and the lively beat of drums.
It is rare that an entire city joins in the celebration of one festival, but Cebu has always primed its
citizenry to celebrate as a whole during Sinulog. No wonder that even as 20 years have gone by,
Sinulog is still the most looked-forward event for all Cebuanos.
2. Ati-Atihan Festival
Location: Kalibo, Aklan Philippines
Aklan plays host to the annual Ati-atihan festival, coinciding with the third
Sunday of January. Like the Sinulog Festival of Cebu, the Ati-atihan
celebrates the many miracles of the Child Jesus or Santo Nino.
The festival is probably more well-known for the black paint that most
participants put on their bodies. The black paint that covers the whole body
contrasts starkly with the colorful costumes and ornaments.
The Ati-Atihan, though honoring the Santo Nino, has tribal and pagan origins. But together
with the citys Christianization, the festival has taken a new meaning.
3. Dinagyang Festival
Location: Ilo-ilo City Philippines
If you have the Sinulog or the Ati-atihan on your travel itinerary to catch the
colorful Visayan Festivals in January, then surely your next stop would be Iloilo, where the Dinagyang Festival is held on the fourth Sunday of January.
The Dinagyang Festival still venerates the Child Jesus, but also commemorates the conversion of
Filipino tribes to Christianity.
Todays Dinagyang Festival is much anticipated with several events serving as highlights,
including the search for Iloilos prettiest ladies in the Miss Dinagyang pageant, the Atis street
dancing, and the Kasadyahan street dancing. Like the Sinulog and Ati-atihan, prayers, drum
beats and colorful costumes litter the streets of Iloilo for the Dinagyang.
4. MassKara Festival
Location: Bacolod City Philippines

Bacolod City holds its Charter Day on the 19th of October every year.
Coinciding with its Charter Day is the MassKara Festival, a week-long
activity that is currently dubbed as the Festival of Smile, a take on Bacolods
own monicker as the City of Smiles.
Unlike other festivals in the Visayas, however, the MassKara is not religious
or tribal in nature. Instead, the Festival ironically traces its roots on tragedy.
The festival was first held in 1980, at a time when sugar cane and sugar prices plummeted and
the livelihood of Bacolenos suffered. It was also during that year that a terrible maritime tragedy
left more than 700 Negrenses dead when the Don Juan and the tanker Tacloban City collided
with each other and sank.
To eclipse the tragedy and the sorrow, Bacolod held its first MassKara Festival. The term
MassKara was coined by Ely Santiago, meaning many faces. It also became the festivals
trademark: smiling masks worn by the participants.
Todays Masskara features the search for the festival queen, street carnivals, competitions, food
fests, sports and music events, garden and agricultural shows and other activities.
5. Pintado-Kasadyahan Festival
Location: Tacloban City Philippines
Lasting a whole month, Tacloban City holds the Pintados-Kasadyahan
Festival culminating on June 29. The current festival also includes the Leyte
Kasadyaan Festival of Festivals, the Pagrayhak Grand Parade, and the
Pintados Ritual Dance Presentation. The festival commemorates and fleshes
out how the Spaniards saw the early Filipinos when they arrived in Leyte:
bodies filled with tattoos and holding weapons which were previously heated
in open fire. In fact, pintados is how the tattoo-covered natives were called, and thats how the
festival got its name.

MINDANAO FESTIVAL
1.The Tuna Festival In Gensan
The Tuna Festival in General Santos City is an annual week-long
festival highlighting the significant role of the tuna industry -- the
city's primary source of income.
September 3-5.

2.Flomolok Festival in Polomolok

The name Polomolok was derived from the Blaan term

FLOMLOK which means hunting grounds. In the early years, the
place where the Poblacion is presently situated was known for its
abundance of wild life. There were no roads and the lowlanders
befriended the Blaan highlanders and utilized them as guides. Aside
from a rich hunting ground, Polomolok had so many creeks with free
flowing water coming from the hillsides. Those cool and clear flowing water encouraged
foreigners to settle in this place.
The people of Polomolok celebrate this by showcasing the local products and a mix of socio
cultural activities.
Home to one of the worlds largest pineapple plantations, Polomolok commemorates its
foundation from September 2nd to 16 th with true South Cotabato flair.
3.Bonok-Bonok Festival
Behind Surigaos multi-faceted culture is its original tribal background.
The Surigaonons go back to their roots this month as they celebrate their
heritage with a loud, rowdy street dancing parade. Includes the SILOP
CAVE ADVENTURE
The introduction to the celebration of the Maradjao-Karajao Festival is
the Bulawanon Barangay Bulawanon means beautification. Before the Bonok-bonok festivity
held, preliminary contest between the 22 barangays of Surigao City and 9 coastal barangays is
ongoing to highlight the month-long festivity that livens up to the household of each respective
family of Surigao City.A day-long festival highlighting the annual city fiesta celebration. The
main feature is the Bonok-bonok, an ethnic Mamanua (IPES) dance performed by the natives
during thanks giving, worship and wedding ceremonies.
Other activities are street dancing participated by different private government groups using
creative costumes, huge floats and entertaining chanting Viva Seor San Nicolas! Viva
Maradjao Karajao!.
Tourism potential aside, Surigao is more importantly home to one of the countrys most colorful
tribes, the Mamanwas. Known for their creative patterns, brass jewelry and indigenous crafts, the
Mamanwas fill the streets dancing during the Bonok Bonok Maradjao Karadjao festival on
September 9. Celebrated on the occasion of thefeast of San Nicolas de Tolentino, the Bonok
Bonok shows the natives gratitude to their animistic gods for a bountiful harvest and good
health.
A collection of antique archaeological diggings like burial coffins jars and antique Chinese
kitchen wares discovered in Panhutungan, Placer is on public display at the Surigaonon Heritage
Mini-Museum situated at the Boulevard in Surigao City.

4.HERMOSA FESTIVAL
The Hermosa Festival also known as Zamboanga La Hermosa
Festival or popularly known as Fiesta Pilar a month-long festival
held each year in the city of Zamboanga,[1] the city center
of Zamboanga Peninsula Region in the Philippines. It is one of the
Oldest Festival in the Country and the most awaited Event in the
Region.

The Festival is being held in honor of the miraculous image of Our Lady of the Pillar (Spanish
and Chavacano: Nuestra Seora del Pilar), the patroness of Zamboanga City which is held in
every 12 October. It is also the patroness of Zaragoza in Spain, the sister city of Zamboanga in
Philippines.[2]
In the Spanish Era, Zamboanga was an integral part of Spanish Colonization. In 1635, the
Spaniards built a fort in Zamboanga named Real Fuerza de San Jose in Brgy. Zone IV area to
secure them against the attacks of the moro warriors. Spaniards held the city as a seat of
government and became the cultural center of the south, and was deeply seated in Hispanic
heritage and tradition.The Zamboanga La Hermosa Festival embedded in Zamboangas rich
history of devotion to the Nuestra Seora del Pilar that is supplemented by rich legends.
In 1734, The Ladys was brought to the fort as a front piece for the main entrance. The western
side of the fort was converted into a shrine for The Lady when the fort was rebuild in 1860 and
the fort was renamed Real Fuerza de Nuestra Seora Virgen del Pilar and some also called
the fort as Real Fuerza de Nuestra Seora Virgen del Pilar de Zaragoza because of the same
name of the Basilica in Zaragoza, Spain.[3]
The citys devotion to the Lady of Pilar was legendary, because of the wealth of stories, miracles,
and apparitions surrounding the virgin for the past few years in the city as people what believed.
[4]

5.LANZONES FESTIVAL
Lanzones Festival is held every third week of October and it is a
four day grand celebration of the lanzones fruit. The
mostimportant livelihood in Camiguin is lanzones. It is when a
lot of tourists come to witness the joyous Lanzones festival.
Lanzones is one of the major fruit producers in the Philippines.
Lanzones is a tropical fruit that grows extravagantly on the northcentral coast of Mindanao. Lanzones has a pale brown skin and
sweet translucent flesh. It is said that the sweetest lanzones in the Philippines comes from
Camiguin. The town of Mambajao in Camiguin celebrated its annual festival called
Lanzones Festival together with its harvest in the month of October.
Lanzones Festival in Mambadjao Camiguin is celebrated with a weekend street
dancing competition and parties, cultural shows, parade and beauty pageant (coronation of
Mutya sa Buahanan) and trade fair that features local handicraft and products. Houses, street
poles and even people are ornamented with lanzones during the lanzones festival. According to
the legend of an unknown beautiful maiden took the fruits past bitter flavor to replace it to
delicious and sweet taste of the lanzones, thus townsfolk dance in the streets in order to honor
and celebrate. It also celebrated by the people in Camiguin as a contribution in making Mindanao
as a cultural tourism destination and give thanks for a bountiful harvest for all the agricultural
products.