SINULOG FESTIVAL

The Sinulog-Santo Nio Festival is an annual cultural and religiousfestival held on the third
Sunday of January in Cebu City, and is the center of the Santo Nio Catholic celebrations in
the Philippines. Other places like Kabankalan City, Maasin City, Balingasag, Misamis Oriental, Cagayan
de Oro City, and Southern Leyte also have their own version of the festival in honour of the Santo Nio.

Origin
The word Sinulog comes from the Cebuano adverb sulog which roughly means "like water current
movement;" it describes the forward-backward movement of the Sinulog dance. The dance consists of
two steps forward and one step backward, done to the sound of drums. The dance is categorized into
Sinulog-base, Free-Interpretation, and street dancing. Candle vendors at the Basilica continue to perform
the traditional version of the dance when lighting a candle for the customer, usually accompanied by
songs in the native language.
Sinulog is the ritual prayer-dance honoring Seor Santo Nio or the Child Jesus. An image of the Child
Jesus is said to be the baptismal gift the Portuguese conquistador Ferdinand Magellan gave Hara Amihan
(Humanay) of Zebu (now Cebu) in April 1521. The image, believed to be miraculous, is housed at the
Basilica Minore del Santo Nio in downtown Cebu City.
The Sinulog dance moves are basically two steps forward and one step backward as the dancer sways to a
distinct rhythm of drums. This movement resembles the current (Sulog) of what was known as Cebus
Pahina River.
According to historical accounts, the Zebu natives already danced the Sinulog in honor of their animist
idols long before the arrival of Magellan who led a Spanish expedition on April 7, 1521. Magellan did not
live long after he introduced Christianity. He died in a failed assault on nearby Mactan island at the hands
of a local chieftain named Lapu-Lapu.
Survivors of Magellan's expedition left behind the image to be discovered 44 years later.
The expedition led by Miguel Lopez de Legaspi bombarded the native settlement when they arrived on
April 28, 1565. In one of the burning huts, one of Legaspi's men, Juan Camus, discovered the image of
the Santo Nio inside a wooden box beside other idols. This time however, Legaspi discovered that the
natives already dance the Sinulog honoring the Santo Nio. [1]
Today the Sinulog commemorates the Filipino people's acceptance of Christianity (specifically, Roman
Catholicism), and their rejection of their former animist beliefs. The first of these conversions happened
in 1521 on the island ofCebu, when Rajah Humabon and his queen Amihan (Humamay) were baptized
along with their subjects, becoming Carlos and Juana of Cebu.

History
On April 15, 1521, the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan arrived and planted the cross on the
shores of Cebu, claiming the territory for Spain. He presented the image of the child Jesus, the Rajah
Humabon. Hara Humamay (or Amihan in some versions) was later named, Queen Juana in honor of
Juana, mother of Carlos I. Along with the rulers of the island, some 800 natives were also baptized to the
Roman Catholic Church. At the moment of receiving the holy image, it was said that Queen Juana danced
with joy bearing this image of the child Jesus. With the other natives following her example, this moment
was regarded as the first Sinulog.
This event is frequently used as basis for most Sinulog dances, which dramatize the coming of the
Spaniards and the presentation of the Santo Nio to the Queen. A popular theme among Sinulog dances is
Queen Juana holding the Santo Nio in her arms and using it to bless her people who were often afflicted
with sickness believed to be caused by demons and other evil spirits.
The Sinulog dance steps are believed to originate from Rajah Humabon's adviser, Baladhay. It was during
Humabon's grief when Baladhay fell sick. Humabon ordered his native tribe to bring Baladhay into a
room where the Santo Nio was enthroned, along with the other pagan gods of the native Cebuanos. After
a few days passed, Baladhay was heard shouting and was found dancing with utmost alertness. Baladhay
was questioned as to why was he awake and shouting. Pointing to the image of the Santo Nio, Baladhay
explained that he had found on top of him a small child trying to wake him and tickling him with the
midrib of the coconut. Greatly astonished, he scared the child away by shouting. The little child got up
and started making fun of Baladhay. In turn, Baladhay danced with the little child and explained that he
was dancing the movements of the river. To this day, the two-steps forward, one-step backward movement
is still used by Santo Nio devotees who believe that it was the Santo Nio's choice to have Baladhay
dance.

DINAGYANG FESTIVAL
The Dinagyang Festival is a religious and cultural festival in Iloilo City,Philippines held on the
fourth Sunday of January, or right after the Sinulogin Cebu and the Ati-Atihan Festival in Kalibo, Aklan.
It is held both to honor the Santo Nio and to celebrate the arrival on Panay of Malay settlers and the
subsequent selling of the island to them by the Atis.

History/ORIGIN
Dinagyang began after Rev. Fr. Ambrosio Galindez, the first Filipino Rector of the Agustinian
Community and Parish Priest of the San Jose Parish introduced the devotion to Santo Nio in November
1967 after observing the Ati-Atihan Festival in the province of Aklan. On 1968, a replica of the original
image of the Santo Nio de Cebu was brought to Iloilo by Fr. Sulpicio Enderez of Cebu as a gift to the
Parish of San Jose. The faithful, led by members of Confradia del Santo Nio de Cebu, Iloilo Chapter,
worked to give the image a fitting reception starting at the Iloilo Airport and parading down the streets of
Iloilo.[1]
In the beginning, the observance of the feast was confined to the parish. The Confradia patterned the
celebration on the Ati-atihan of Ibajay, Aklan, where natives dance in the streets, their bodies covered
with soot and ashes, to simulate the Atis dancing to celebrate the sale of Panay. It was these tribal groups
who were the prototype of the present festival. [2]
A participant of Dinagyang Festival
In 1977, the Marcos government ordered the various regions of the Philippines to come up with festivals
or celebrations that could boost tourism and development. The City of Iloilo readily identified the Iloilo
Ati-atihan as its project. At the same time the local parish could no longer handle the growing challenges
of the festival.[3]
Dinagyang was voted as the best Tourism Event for 2006, 2007 and 2008 by the Association of Tourism
Officers in the Philippines. It is the first festival in the world to get the support of the United Nations for

the promotion of the Millennium Development Goals, and cited by the Asian Development Bank as Best
Practice on government, private sector & NGO cooperatives. [4]

MORIONES FESTIVAL

The Moriones is an annual festival held on Holy Week on the island of Marinduque, Philippines. The
"Moriones" are men and women in costumes and masks replicating the garb of biblical Roman soldiers as
interpreted by local folks. The Moriones or Moryonan tradition has inspired the creation of other festivals
in the Philippines where cultural practices or folk history is turned into street festivals. [1]
It is a colorful festival celebrated on the island of Marinduque in the Philippines. The participants
use morion masks to depict the Roman soldiers and Syrian mercenaries within the story of the Passion of
the Christ. The mask was named after the 16th and 17th century Morion helmet.[2] The Moriones refers to
the masked and costumed penitents who march around the town for seven days searching for Longinus.
Morions roam the streets in town from Holy Monday to Easter Sunday scaring the kids, or engaging in
antics or surprises to draw attention. This is a folk-religious festival that re-enacts the story of Saint
Longinus, a Roman centurion who was blind in one eye. The festival is characterized by colorful Roman
costumes, painted masks and helmets, and brightly colored tunics. The towns of Boac, Gasan, Santa Cruz,
Buenavista and Mogpog in the island of Marinduque become one gigantic stage. The observances form
part of the Lenten celebrations of Marinduque. The various towns also hold the unique tradition of the
pabasa or the recitation of Christ's passion in verse. [3] Then at three o'clock on Good Friday afternoon,
the Santo Sepulcro is observed, whereby old women exchange verses based on the Bible as they stand in
wake of the dead Christ. One of the highlights of this festival is the Via Crucis. A re-enactment of the
suffering of Christ on his way to the calvary. Men inflict suffering upon themselves by whipping their
backs, carrying a wooden cross and sometimes even crucifixion. They see this act as their form of
atonement for their sins. This weeklong celebration starts on Holy Monday and ends on Easter Sunday. [4]

Background
The term "Moriones" was concocted by the media in the 60s, but local inhabitants have kept the
original term, "Moryonan". Many practitioners are farmers and fishermen who engage in this
age-old tradition as a vow of penance or thanksgiving. Legend has it that Longinus pierced the
side of the crucified Christ. The blood that spurted forth touched his blind eye and fully restored

his sight. This miracle converted Longinus to Christianity and earned the ire of his fellow
centurions. The re-enactment reaches its climax when Longinus is caught and beheaded.

History
In Valencia, Spain there is a similar celebration called Festival de Moros y Cristianos (Moors and
Christians Festival). It is almost certain that the word "Moriones" was derived from "Moros". Another
possible derivation is from the Spanish word "muri" (root verb:morir) meaning "(3rd person singular)
died". The origin of the festival is traced to Mogpog and the year 1870 when the parish priest of said
town, Fr. Dionisio Santiago, organized it for the first time. [5]

Panagbenga Festival
The flowers of Baguio is one of the reasons for the Panagbenga festival.
Panagbenga Festival (English: Blooming Flowers Festival) is a month-long annual
flower festival occurring in Baguio. The term is of Malayo-Polynesian origin, meaning "season of
blooming".[1] The festival, held during the month of February, was created as a tribute to the city's flowers
and as a way to rise up from the devastation of the 1990 Luzon earthquake.[2] The festival includes floats
that are covered mostly with flowers not unlike those used inPasadena's Rose Parade. The festival also
includes street dancing, presented by dancers clad in flower-inspired costumes, that is inspired by the
Bendian, an Ibaloi dance of celebration that came from the Cordillera region.
Aside from boosting the economy through tourism, the festival also helped the younger generation of
indigenous people to rediscover their culture's old traditions. The indigenous people were first wary with
government-led tourism because of the threat that they will interfere or change their communities' rituals.
[3]

The A. Lim of the Bases Conversion Development Authority (BCDA). [4] Entries from the annual Camp
John Nichol Sibug art contest gave its official logo: a spray of sunflowers. The festival was set in
February to boost tourism as it was considered as a month of inactivity between the busy days
of Christmas season and the Holy Week and the summer season.[5]
In 1996, archivist and curator Ike Picpican suggested that the festival be renamed as Panagbenga,
a Kankanaey term that means "a season of blossoming, a time for flowering"

Magayon Festival
The Magayon Festival
Magayon Festival is an annual festival in May that relives the legend of Mayon Volcano. The festival
derived its name from magayon, from a Bicolano term which means beautiful. This celebration is held
in honor of Nuestra Seora de la Porteria, Daraga's patron saint. This legendary, historical and religious
celebration aims to showcase the cultural life of the people of Daraga, Albay.

Legend of Mount Mayon

The Legend of Mount Mayon that has been the center of the celebration of the Magayon Festival is about
the tragic love story of Daragang Magayon, who is considered as the most beautiful damsel at her time in
the Kabikolan and a tagalog warrior named Panganoron. Their tragic love affair was believed to caused
the mounting of the Mayon Volcano. The death of Daragang Magayon bring about the Mount Mayon and
the clouds and the rains that often visits it is believed to be the spirit of her lover Panganoron. The rocks,
the scary sounds and the earthquake believed to be the spirit of the envious and selfish suitor of Daragang
Magayon, Paratuga.
The name of the municipality as well as the name of the mountain came from the name of the lead
character of the legend, Daragang Magayon. Mayon was from the Magayon, which means beautiful and
Daraga, which is the name of the municipality came from Dagarang.

Ati-Atihan festival

The Ati-Atihan Festival is a feast held annually in January in honor of the Santo Nio (Infant
Jesus), concluding on the third Sunday, in the island and town of Kalibo, Aklan in the Philippines.
The name "Ati-Atihan" means "to be like Atis" or "make believe Ati's". Itas were the primary settlers
in the islands according to history books. They too are the earliest settlers of Panay Island where the
province of Aklan is situated.[1]

The festival consists of tribal dance, music, accompanied by indigenous costumes and weapons, and
parade along the street. Christians, and non-Christians observe this day with religious processions. It has
inspired many other Philippine Festivals including the Sinulog Festival of Cebu andDinagyang of Iloilo
City, both adaptations of the Kalibo Ati-Atihan Festival, and legally holds the title "The Mother of All
Philippine Festivals" despite of the other two said festivals' claims of the same title.
(c.1200 A.D.) event explains the origins of the festival. A group of 10Malay chieftains called Datus,
fleeing from the island of Borneo settled in the Philippines, and were granted settlement by
the Ati people, the tribes of Panay Island. Datu Puti, Makatunaw's chief minister made a trade with the
natives and bought the plains for a golden salakot, brass basins and bales of cloth. They have a very long
necklace to the wife of the Ati cheiftan. Feasting and festivities followed soon after.[2]

Some time later, the Ati people were struggling with famine as the result of a bad harvest. They were
forced to descend from their mountain village into the settlement below, to seek the generosity of the
people who now lived there. The Datus obliged and gave them food. In return, the Ati danced and sang
for them, grateful for the gifts they had been given. [3]
The misoln was originally a pagan festival from this tribe practicing Animism, and their worshiping
their anito god. Spanish missionaries gradually added a Christian meaning. Today, the Ati-Atihan is
celebrated as a religious festival.

Bangus Festival
Bangus Festival is an annual festivity in Dagupan City, Pangasinan that kicks off every month of April. It
celebrates the province's Bonuan bangus, which is renowned for its unique taste.

Celebration
Bangus Festival, first celebrated in 2002, was the brainchild of former mayor Benjamin S. Lim, who
wished to emphasize the local bangus industry and promote Dagupan as the Bangus Capital of the World.
Initially a part of the thanksgiving festival Pista'y Dayat, Bangus Festival developed into a two-week
socio-economic program of activities that highlights the city's top produce.
The festival commences with the lighting of 1,000 barbecue grills lined up to cook thousands of bangus,
which stretches up to two kilometers. This also serves as a competition for hundreds of cooks, whose
dishes are not only judged by the grilling but through whipping up the tastiest and most creative way of
serving bangus. The contest was eventually called '101 Ways to Cook Bangus and won for the city a
recognition in the Guinness Book of World Records for the longest barbecue in 2003.
Aside from the grilling challenge, the festivity showcases a bangus eating contest, a search for the biggest
and heaviest bangus, the Gilon-gilon dancing festival, the Pigar-pigar festival, the Halo-halo festival, and
the Bangusan street party, where several local and Manila-based bands perform along Jose R. De Venecia
Expressway Extension.

Higantes Festival
Higantes Festival, also known as the Feast of San Clemente, is celebrated every November 23 in the
town of Angono, Rizal. This is a major festival in honor of San Clemente, the patron saint of fishermen.
His image is carried by male devotees during a procession accompanied by "pahadores" (devotees dressed
in colorful local costumes or fishermen's clothes, wearing wooden shoes and carrying boat paddles, fish
nets, traps, etc.) and "higantes" (paper-mch giants measuring 10-12 feet in height and 4-5 feet in
diameter). This street event ends in a procession to Laguna de Bay until the image is brought back to its
sanctuary.

History
More than a century ago, when Angono was still a Spanish hacienda, the hacienda owners prohibited the
townspeople from holding any celebrations. Aside from the costly preparation, they also wanted to restrict
pagan festivities. They allowed only one annual celebration -- the town fiesta in honor of its patron saint,
San Clemente.
The townspeople took advantage of this sole festivity, prepared lots of food, wore colorful costumes, and
held a big procession featuring big paper-mch caricatures of their Spanish landlords -- an art form
imported from Mexico by Spanish friars. These multi-colored, humongous, comical and sometimes scary
12-footers were called "Higantes" or giants.
Before, only two or three higantes were made, representing a "mag-anak" (father, mother and
son/daughter). In 1987, Mr. Perdigon Vocalan suggested that all thirteen barangay must have two or three
higantes, symbolizong the barangays industry or personality. This idea materialized with the help of
the Department of Tourism and Provincial Tourism Office. Since then, the towns folk maintained this
practice and elevated it into an art form. This colorful celebration boasts of around 40 different higantes
representing each barangay and attracting local and foreign tourists.

MASSKARA FESTIVAL
The Masskara Festival (Hiligaynon: Pista sang MassKara, Filipino: Fiesta ng MassKara) is a
festival held each year in Bacolod, Philippines, every third weekend of October nearest October 19,
the city's Charteranniversary.

Etymology[edit]
The word "Masskara" is a portmanteau, coined by the late artist Ely Santiagofrom mass (a multitude
of people), and the Spanish word cara (face), thus forming MassKara (a multitude of faces). The
word is also a pun on maskara, Filipino for "mask" (itself from Spanish mscara), since a prominent
feature of the festival are the masks worn by participants, which are always adorned with smiling
faces.

History[edit]
The festival first began in 1980 during a period of crisis. The province relied on sugar cane as its
primary agricultural crop, and the price of sugar was at an all-time low due to the introduction of
sugar substitutes like high fructose (corn syrup) in the United States. This was the first Masskara
Festival and a time of tragedy; on April 22 of that year, the inter-island vessel MV Don Juan carrying
many Negrenses, including those belonging to prominent families in Bacolod City, collided with the
tanker Tacloban City and sank. An estimated 700 lives were lost in the tragedy.
In the midst of these tragic events, the city's artists, local government and civic groups decided to
hold a festival of smiles, because the city at that time was also known as the City of Smiles. They
reasoned that a festival was also a good opportunity to pull the residents out of the pervasive gloomy
atmosphere. The initial festival was therefore, a declaration by the people of the city that no matter
how tough and bad the times were, Bacolod City is going to pull through, survive, and in the end,
triumph.