Philippine Festivals

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Philippine Festivals

Unique Philippine Festivals is featured cover of Mercury Drug Philippines 2008 Calendar. Each month contains information about the different colorful festivals held each year in the Philippines as they way of supporting and promoting tourism in the country.

January 2008
Feast of the Black Nazarene
Quiapo, Manila City – 2nd week of January

February 2008
Panagbenga Festival
Baguio City – 4th week of February

March 2008
Kaamulan Festival
Malaybalay City, Bukidnon – 1st week of March

April 2008
Bangus Festival
Dagupan City, Pangasinan – 4th week of April

May 2008
Pahiyas Festival
Lucban, Quezon – 2nd week of May

June 2008
Pintados Kasadyaan Festival
Tacloban City, Leyte – 4th week of June

July 2008
Sandugo Festival
Tagbilaran City, Bohol – 3rd week of July

August 2008
Kadayawan Festival
Davao City – 3rd week of August

September 2008
Peñafrancia Viva la Virgen Festival
Naga City, Bicol – 3rd week of September

October 2008
Masskara Festival
Bacolod City – 2nd week of October

November 2008
Higantes Festival
Angono, Rizal – 3rd week of November

December 2008
Tawo-tawo Festival
Bayawan, Negros Oriental – 3rd week of December



January 2008
Feast of the Black Nazarene
The feast of the Black Nazarene in Quiapo Manila, which is celebrated every 9th day of January, is joined by millions of devotees around the country who believes that by continuing their yearly ‘Panata’, the Black Nazarene will grant their prayers and keep them and their loved ones safe from all kinds of calamities, whether natural or man-made.

February 2008
Panagbenga Festival
The Panagbenga Festival which is celebrated every month of February in Baguio City showcases the unique culture of the city. It is one of the most colorful festivals in the Philippines. It draws both local and foreign visitors in the “City of Pines” – eager to witness the colorful procession of multihued costumes worm by local, mimicking the various blooms of highlands region (or any of its 11 ethnic tribes). These are flowerbeds disguised of course as the Panagbenga parade floats.

March 2008
Kaamulan Festival
The Kaamulan Festival is celebrated every month of March by the people of Bukidnon, when the streets of Malaybalay take on that familiar “tribal” and Fiesta theme. Banners, banderitas and beer will be norm, as well as the sweet, haunting sound of native music. An early morning ‘Pamuhat’ ritual kicks off the festivities, to be followed by an ethnic food fest, trade fairs and a lot of native dancing.

April 2008
Bangus Festival
The Bangus Festival or the ‘Pistay Dayat’ is highlighted by the longest bangus grill, covering more than 1,000 meters of the whole stretch of the main road. This one-of-a kind celebration includes the ‘City Bangus Rodeo’, Gilon (Bangus harvest dance parade in bangus inspired costumes amid the beat of drums and upbeat music) ‘Mutyang Dagat’, sport competition/ exhibition and others.

May 2008
Pahiyas Festival
The Pahiyas Festival is celebrated in the province of Quezon every merry month of May, when flowers bloom ther sweetest to usher in a bountiful harvest and smashing good times. But these aren’t the only things flaunted during this grand celebration, in the town of Lucban, Quezon, there’s also the “kiping” – a colorful, translucent rice tortilla that serves as an edible ornament of sorts. It’s a free for all, grab-all-you-can affair with suman-sweet, sticky native rice cakes- as center of contention.

June 2008
Pintados Kasadyaan Festival
The Pintados Kasadyaan Festival is held every month of June in Tacloban City. Back during pre-Hispanic years, tattoos signified courage among natives of Tacloban. These days, they symbolize a cultural revival during this wild and wacky fiesta wherein the town residents deck themselves out in body paint, mimicking the warriors of old while dancing to frenetic beat of drums.

July 2008
Sandugo Festival
The Sandugo Festival is celebrated with an all-out fiesta each month of July in Tagbilaran City to commemorate the historic Spanish colonization of the Philippies, which began with a blood-sealed peace treaty on the shores of Bohol. Check out the Sandugo Street dancing parade featuring ten colorfully- dressed groups dancing to the beat of drums. There’s alaso a Traditional Filipino carnival, a martial arts festival, and Miss Bohol Sandugo Beauty Pageant, among the dozen of other exciting activities.






August 2008
Kadayawan sa Dabaw
Davao’s annual festival popularly known as “Kadayawan sa Dabaw” held every month of August, promises another weekend of fanfare and fun – tribal style. Watch as the festivities reach a glorious climax on Saturday morning: that’s when the Kadayawan parade is held, featuring colorful, orchid-bedecked floats and more than a dozen “ethnic” groups dancing to the beat of wooden drums.

September 2008
Peñafrancia Viva La Virgen
The feast of “Peñafrancia Viva la Virgen” is Bicol Region’s biggest celebration that combines religion with culture and tradition, packing it all in a 9-day fiesta of biblical proportions. Stay until sundown for stirring climax: the fluvial parade as it makes its way down the river, surrounded by a sea of glowing candles – a fitting end of this truly spiritual occasion.

October 2008
Masskara Festival
The “masskara Festival” which made Bacolod famous all over and celebrated annually every month of October, began as an event to “inspire the locals to face the hard times with a smiling face.” Thus masks with smiling faces are worn by locals and visitors alike who join the parade. Street dancing, drum beating, drinking, eating and just being merry – all these shows the resiliency of Negrenses and their zest for life.

November 2008
Higantes Festival
The Higantes Festival, Angono’s joyous fiesta in honor of San Clemente whose image, resplendent in papal vestment, is borne by male devotees during a procession accompanied by “parehadoras” (devotees dressed in colorful local costumes, wooden shoes and carrying boat paddles and “higantes” giant papers mache effigies. The street event culminates in a fluvial procession in Laguna de Bay amidst revelry that continues until the image is brought back to its sanctuary.

December 2008
Tawo-tawo Festival
The Tawo-Tawo Festival is celebrated annually every month of December in Negros Oriental. Street dancing and showdown competitions are held the day before the fiesta, which is joined by hundreds of visitors both local and foreign. They celebra the scarecrows (tawo-tawo) through paper mache higantes as guardians of the town’s crops.