Fil-Chinese Community Readies to Celebrate the Chinese New Year
The local Fil-Chinese community in the Philippines is now preparing for the grand annual Chinese New Year celebration or what they called it “Kung Hei Fat Choi” which will start on February 3, 2011. It marks as the beginning of the Year of the Rabbit. This traditional event is celebrated for about fifteen days and it is a significant moment when the whole nation feels united as they can imagine each other’s enjoyment.
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Panagbenga Festival, Philippines
Let’s come and celebrates the one if not the most colorful festival in the country. The people of Baguio will once again be in full bloom as they celebrates the annual Panagbenga Festival this coming February. Everyone can experience the grand floral street dance and floral float parade which you’ve never seen before. Not only that, it is one of the most visited festival as well for it is just a couple of hours away from the Metro.
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Sandugo Festival, Philippines
The Sandugo Festival, otherwise known as the Blood Compact Commemoration is Bohol’s famous festivity. The “dugo” is a Visayan dialect put into a cup and then drinking the contents thereof. Henceforth the Boholanos celebrated this special event although not as consistently as being done now. It takes place every year which commemorates the celebration of a local Philippine leader Datu Sikatuna’s blood compact symbolizes the treaty of friendship between him and the Spanish king conquistador, Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, a two people of different race and creed.
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Via Crusis in Cebu
As a Lenten season is fast approaching, Via Crusis is one way to repent ourselves. It is a Lenten movement happens every April 1 where devotees from Cebu City and its neighboring cities and towns do their penitential procession through cities the Station of the Cross built on 12 hectares of rolling hills. Via Crusis is a Latin for The Way of the Cross, or sometimes called The Way of Sorrows refers to the portrayal of the passion of the Christ and the devotion commemorating it. The life-size statues of the 14 Stations of the Cross have been patterned after the Way of the Cross in Lourdes, France.
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Kalilangan Festival, Philippines
Every year, General Santos City marks its foundation anniversary on February 27 with various activities culminating the weeklong celebration of Kalilangan Festival. A Kalilangan is derived from the Maguindanaoan word “kalilang” which means “festival,” or “celebration.” It has been adopted as the carrier of the city’s foundation anniversary as it perfectly embodies the meaning of the historical episode being celebrated. The logo depicts the docking of the pioneers at the shores of Sarangani Bay. With empty hands and hopeful hearts, they tilled the lands, cultivated dreams, and planted a vision.
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Quiapo Fiesta: Procession of the Black Nazarene
Quiapo Fiesta or Feast of the Black Nazarene is celebrated on the second Tuesday of January. It is the feast day of the Black Nazarene in Quiapo Church. After the main mass, the famous statue of the Black Nazarene, carved in Mexico during the 18th century, is placed ona gilded carriage and borne in procession around the Quiapo district, with thousands and thousands of devotees participating.
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Tuna Festival, General Santos City
Tuna Festival is one of the more interesting fiestas in the Philippines especially in General Santos City. This celebration was inspired by the fact that this particular city is referred to as the country’s Tuna Capital. General Santos City has a population of 535,747 as of 2007, making it as one of the populous cities in the Philippines. The city is a three time awardee for the “Most Competitive City” in the Philippines for the years 1999-2000 (all cities category) 2000-2001 (mid-sized category) and 2007 (mid-sized category). Tuna Float is an awesome event to taste also sumptuous tuna treats during the Tuna Culinary Contest.
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The Masskara Festival is Bacolod’s Biggest Annual Event
Bacolod City will never be called the City of Smiles without any reason at all. Once again, this charming city in the province of Negros Occidental has celebrated the country’s most colorful fiesta: The Masskara Festival. As we all know, Masskara is a cardinal symbol that depicts the many faces of life and the challenges it brings. It is a festival of thanksgiving for the bounty showered upon the Negrenses during the season of harvest. Animated street dancing highlights the celebration flocked in by thousands of spectators from all over the country.
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Sinulog Festival for Señor Santo Niño
Nowhere else in the Philippines can one witness a yearly historical pageantry in parade known as Sinulog which is part of a religious observance except in Cebu City. The Sinulog is an annual festival held on every third Sunday of January. It honors the child known as the Santo Niño, patron of the city of Cebu. The dance moves two steps forward and one step backward to the sound of the drums. This resembles the current (Sulog) of what was then known as Cebu’s Pahina River. Thus, in Cebuano, they say it’s Sinulog. The Sinulog dance steps were believed to originate from Rajah Humabon’s adviser, Baladhay. It was during Humabon’s grief when Baladhay was driven sick. He then ordered his natives to bring Baladhay into a chapel where the Sto. Niño was enthroned. The festival now features a street parade with participants in bright-colored costumes dancing to the rhythm of drums, trumpets, and native gongs.
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The “Hala Bira, Puera Pasma” Street Dancing in Kalibo
Philippine Mardi Gras comes in very spectacular style when the people of Kalibo take to the streets to dance through the night and parade their magnificent costumes. The Ati-Atihan Festival is known to be the wildest among the Philippine fiestas. It has grown in giving honor to Santo Niño, a depiction of the Child Jesus which held every year on the third Sunday of January, in the town of Kalibo, Aklan. Art is become a big factor as celebrants paint their faces with black soot and wear bright, peculiar costumes as they dance in revelry during the last three days of this two week-long festival. There is a mix of parades, procession and dancing people on the rhythms of monotonous music of drums or the rhythmic tinkling of metal and stone on bottles while celebrating the Ati-Atihan.
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Philippine Peso Exchange Rate
