SUBLIAN FESTIVAL

The Sublian festival, a two week long celebration which culminates every year on

the 23rd of July, is rooted in the Batangueños devotion to the town’s patron: the Holy

Cross in Bauan and Agoncillo, and the Sto. Niño in Batangas City.

This religious devotion translated to a dance from indigenous to Batangas: the

Subli. Traditionaly performed to the accompaniment of drums and chanting, the Subli

praises the Patron in a combination of poetry, movement and music.

Today, the Sublian festival features not just devotional dance-song but street

dancing indigenous Filipino games, Harana (serenades), the Lupakan, Awitan at

Sayawan: an event which combines the sharing of Nilupak (local delicacy made of

bananas and sweet potato) with folk songs and dancesand even a Malunggayan Fiesta,

a day that celebrates the nutritional benefits of the malunggay (moringa) plant. The

Sublian Festival also coincides with the city’s founding anniversary.

The Sublian Festival is included in the Department of Tourism’s Calendar of

Events.

Another Festival celebrated in Batangas City is the annual City Fiesta in honor of

its patron, the Sto. Niño’s entrance into the city though the Calumpang River is held

every January 7, the first day of the novena. Nightly, cultural shows by the city’s

schools, a Battle of the Bands, a Children’s Art Competition as well as the Bb. Lungsod

ng Batangas, Beauty Pageant are held culminating on January 16 with a grand Fiesta

Parade.
ADDITIONAL INFO ABOUT SUBLIAN FESTIVAL

The Sublian Festival was started by the city Mayor Eduardo Dimacuha on July 23,

1988 on the annual observation of the city hood of Batangas City. The objective is to

renew the practice of the subli.

So, what is a subli?

A subli is presented during a feast, as ceremonial worship dance in honor to the

Holy Cross. The image of the Holy Cross was found during the Spanish rule in the town

of Alitagtag. It is the patron saint of ancient town of Bauan. The dance is indigenous to

the province of Batangas.

The subli is made up of lengthy prayers, songs and dances in predetermined

arrangement. The dancers are made up of one, two or eight couples. The male dancers

shuffle in intense fashion and hit the ground using a bamboo stick, while the female,

dance with a sophisticated wrist and finger movement.

The parade usually starts in morning on the 23rd of July after the floral offering. It

is commonly participated by the city government employees, non-government

organization, schools and socio-civic organization.

Participants come in native attire with adorned subli hats to symbolize Batangueño

attributes and customs. The best bit of the event is the Foundation Day and the Sublian

sa Kalye (in the street), where partakers will march and dance the subli on the streets.

There are around a thousand students who join and perform astreet dancing subli. The

parade usually takes at least an hour or more to complete.

Hall Complex.

One interesting program during the celebration is the Lupakan (making of a snack

called nilupak) at Awitan (singing) held at the People’s Quadrangle. Here you can catch

a glimpse of how the native snack nilupak is made. And at the same time have a taste of

the delectable snack.

SUMAN FESTIVAL

Suman is a sticky rice cake that may astound you with its delicate taste. For the

most part, it is served in the bamboo leaves named bagakay, in banana leaves, or the

leaves of the corypha palm. This dish is accepted to be an image of thriving. It's

additionally a standout amongst the most famous snacks in the Philippines, regularly

introduce on the Christmas table, and different celebrations and extraordinary events.

The inhabitants of Alitagtag in the Batangas Provonce offer credit to the sweet at

a portion of the neighborhood celebrations. Each February, individuals of Baler direct a

custom to remember Saint Isidore, the benefactor holy person of agriculturists. They

attach their rice cakes to a bit of bamboo and toss them from the windows while the picture

of the holy person cruises by while devouring most loved nearby delicacy.

The Antipolo Maytime Festival is another event to attempt an assortment of sweet

rice cakes. Amid the entire month of May, local people praise their ordinary generation.

One of the exceptional occasions in Antipolo is the challenge of the greatest suman.

Generally speaking, the celebrations incorporate a home adornment rivalry, glide

parades, exchange fairs, and, obviously, tasting of the primary delicacy of the territory.
TAPUSAN MAYFLOWER FESTIVAL

Celebrated every May 31st, Tapusan Mayflower Festival exhibits activities like

Kaligya Street Dancing and Grandest Float Procession. Float, in Tagalog, is called karosa

– an artistically designed structure over a vehicle which is commonly used in parades and

festivals. And now, it has its own festival in the humble town of Alitagtag. Although

Tapusan Mayflower Festival isn’t spearheaded by the Catholic Church nor the local

government unit of Alitagtag, it is purely a religious activity run by “Kapisanans” or different

organizations of Barangay. As time went by, karosas or floats of different barangays of

Alitagtag evolved from simple flowers to almost a hundred thousand lighting bulbs with

the best of the best architecture made by cooperation of the people of Alitagtag.

In the month of May, town fiestas are very common in Batangas and different

barrios celebrate their own respective fiestas. Alitagtag was probably the only town in

Batangas or maybe in the Philippines that celebrated two fiestas, one on May 3 and

another one on May 7. May 3 was the feast day of the Holy Cross in Binukalan in

Alitagtag. It was also the town fiesta of the neighboring town of Bauan. May 7 is the big

town fiesta in Alitagtag.

In the olden days, preparation was undertaken to really go all out to impress

everyone. Every house in town started preparing for the big day starting on May 4. The

people work hard to make their homes presentable, cleaning and scrubbing floors and

windows, putting new curtains on the windows and have the whole house in a festive

mood. Streets were decorated with bamboo arches and brightly colored paper streamers.

The town plaza had vendors selling toys, trinkets and food. There were ferris wheels,

carousel and other entertainment on the plaza near the church.

showcase their expertise in cooking delicious meals. Preparation for making suman was

scheduled to have the ingredients for the recipes bought and be ready on May 4. Banana

leaves were picked to be used in cooking suman. Suman is a desert or snack whose

ingredients are malagkit na bigas, (a special sticky rice), coconut milk and brown sugar,

salt and wrapped in banana leaves. It was mixed and then steamed to perfection. This

desert was cooked on May 5.

On May 6, a pig was slaughtered. For several months before the feast, every

house had one pig that they fattened and designated for the fiesta. If you could not afford

to have a pig, you would ask one of your relatives if you could share their pig. All parts

of the pig were cooked into different recipes.

Lechon (roasted pig) was an important dish for fiesta or big events as turkey on

Thanksgiving Day in the United States or ham for Christmas in European countries.

Chicken was also cooked on the same day. Another food specialty that was cooked on

May 6 was called kalderetang kambing which was essentially stewed goat’s meat. Pancit

which is a kind of noodle recipe was cooked on the eve of the feast.

Besides food, there were also some local fiesta games in Alitagtag. Palo Sebo was

a traditional game played at fiesta time. Pabitin was another popular game with children

in many fiestas. In some towns, prominent members of the community organized a ball

for charity. By tradition, the Rigodon dance opened the ball.

On the eve and day of the fiesta, marching bands went around the town, making

the day joyous and really festive. On the night of the fiesta, there was a big procession
with carroza, a float carrying the image of the patron saint starting from the church and

went through the barrios and back to church.

For more info on town fiesta and other customs and traditions, get your copy of the

book “BAHALA NA (Come What May): A WWII Story of Love, Faith, Courage,

Determination and Survival”. Besides untold eyewitness account of the war in the

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