Top 3 Most Popular Philippine Festivals

Sinulog Festival (Cebu) ‘Sinulog’ comes from the Cebuano adverb sulog which is “like water current movement,” which proficiently describes the forward- backward movement of the Sinulog dance. One of the grandest, most distinguished and most colorful festival in the Philippines. It is held each year on the third Sunday of January in Cebu City to honor the Santo Nino, or the child Jesus The festival features some of the country’s most colorful displays of ceremony and pageantry: participants clothe in bright-colored costumes dance to the rhythm of drums and native gongs. The streets are generally lined with vendors and pedestrians all wanting to witness the street-dancing. The celebration traditionally lasts for nine days, ending on the ninth day when the Sinulog Grand Parade reveals.

The Fluvial Procession, a water-parade, held at dawn from the Mandaue City wharf to Cebu wharf with the Santo Nino carried on a pump boat decorated with hundreds of flowers and candles.

Pahiyas Festival (Lucban) The Pahiyas Festival’s name came from the Filipino words “hiyas,” which means jewel and “pahiyas” which means both precious offering and decor. The festival is an old farmer’s harvest celebration, which started in the 16th century. It is held in honor of San Isidro Labrador, the patron saint of farmers, peasants and laborers. When harvest time came, the farmers would pick their finest crops and take them to church where the parish priest would bless them in thanks giving to God and Jesus christ. The festival’s highlight is a street procession featuring the image of San Isidro Labrador and his wife, Sta. Maria dela Cabeza. Tourists visitingLucban to witness the Pahiyas Festival do not consider heir experience complete without having tasted the town’s delicious specialties: the Pancit Habhab and the Longganisang Lucban.

The Pahiyas Festival has, without doubt, made Lucban a must-see destination during summer, esoecially for tourists exploring the Philippines’ multicultural and multifaceted character,

Mascara Festival (Negros) The term Masskara is created from two words: mass, meaning crowd, and the Spanish word cara, for face, thus, the double meaning for “mask” and “many faces.” It was coined by Ely Santiago, a painter, cartoonist, and cultural artist, who devoted show in his art works the many faces of Negrenses overwhelmed with various crises. Group of masskara dancers a smiling mask, which is the symbol of the fiesta was conceived by the organizers to show the happy spirit of the Negrenses despite experiencing bad times in the sugar industry. The Masskara Festival through the years gives the people of Negros, as well as the local foreign visitors, a chance to drink and be merry for 20 days. Originally, designed to show the hardshipss of the people of Negros, the Masskara Festival has become a tool of escapism and a way to generate revenues for big business.

Masks are the order of the day at the Maskara parade, as brightly-costumed men and women dance and strut in the streets.

Refences https://www.slideshare.net/misskml/festivals-and-fiestas-of-philippines https://insights.looloo.com/10-philippine-festivals-you-wont-want-to-miss/ http://www.thehappytrip.com/list-of-festivals-in-the-philippines/ https://www.slideshare.net/NersIraola1/philippine-festivals-73278265