Every year, hundreds of fiestas are celebrated in the Philippines. Small wonder, when the fiesta contains so many of the things held dear by Filipinos --- convivial fellowship, humor and revelry, drama and color, piety and passion (not to mention the chance to indulge in a frenzy of eating and drinking orgies), plus the opportunity to be both participant and spectator at a terrific show. Annual small-town fiestas also serve to bring prodigal sons and daughters back from the big cities to reaffirm the bonds of community so vital to the Filipinos.

Overlaid with a Christian veneer, ancient practices of pre-Christian animism persist. Fertility dances and harvest celebrations once offered to spirits in forest clearings are now performed for patron saints under the shadow of church bell towers, the result of the clever Spanish clerics' policy of absorbing what they couldn't eradicate.

Visitors are welcomed with enthusiasm to these extravaganzas of parades, beauty contests, religous processions, and street plays. Some of the colorful fiestas are more well known.
 
 List of Fiestas (arranged chronologically):

 Feast of the Three Kings
 Feast of Black Nazarene
 Santo Nino de Cebu
 Ati-Atihan
 Chinese New Year
 Bale Zamboanga Festival
 Araw ng Dabao
 Holy Week and Easter
 Baguio Summer Festival
 Turumba Festival
 Sinulog Festival
 Magellan's Landing Celebration
 Santacruzan
 Flores de Mayo
 Carabao Festival
 Pahiyas
 Fertility Dance
 Feast of San Juan
 Halaran Festival
 St. Peter & St. Paul Celebration
 Feast of the Sacred Heart
 Bocaue River Festival
 St. Martha River Festival
 Sumbali
 Sunduan
 Penafrancia
 Ang Sinulog or Michaelma's Day
 All Saint's Day
 Grand Canao
 Misa de Gallo
 Festival of Lanterns
 Panunuluyan

First Sunday in January: The FEAST OF THE THREE KINGS

is celebrated in the towns of Gasan and Santa Cruz in Marinduque. Three costumed men followed by excited throngs of children parade through the towns in a reenactment of the journey of the biblical Magi. (This date marks the official ending of the Christmas celebrations).

January 9: FEAST OF THE BLACK NAZARENE

in the Quiapo section of Manila. While the main event takes place in Quiapo, it ultimately ties up rerouted traffic all over Manila. The Black Nazarene is a life-size image of Christ bearing the cross on his shoulder; his suffering countenance streaked with blood from the crown of thorns. The statue, painted black by its unknown sculptor, was brought from Mexico (take note, Nicolas!) on a galleon bound for Manila. The galleon crew attributed miraculous powers to the Nazarene, as do its present devotees. Dressed in gold-embroidered purple robes, the image is borne through the throngs by barefoot men wearing white T-shirts and sporting white towels around their necks. Other male devotees, similarly garbed, press forward in near hysteria, attempting to touch the statue with their towel, which is then rubbed on the body to cure ailments. Female followers swelter in the sun under heavy maroon robes and wreaths representing the crown of thorns. People clamber on one another's shoulders in their urgent desire to touch the nazarene, and injuries are not uncommon in the crash.

Third Week in January: SANTO NINO DE CEBU

in Cebu City is a week-long festival paying homage to the patron saint of Cebu (most people would also declare that the Santo Nino is the patron saint of the Philippines). A 16th century image of the Santo Nino, presented to Queen Juana by Magellan, is paraded through the streets to the accompaniment of dancing and celebration. Processions, cultural presentations, fireworks, and a carnival atmosphere interspersed with moments of solemnity prevail. The fiesta, for the past several years, have been named as the Sinulog, a term that also applies to other fiestas, particularly in the Visayan areas.

On a less grand scale, the fiesta is echoed in Tondo, one of the districts of Manila originally fronting the Manila Bay. The piety may not be apparent but the people from Tondo outdo themselves in their hospitality by providing food and drinks galore throughout the day.
 

January (movable): ATI-ATIHAN

 celebration in Kalibo, Aklan on the island of Panay. This is probably the most well-known fiesta in the Philippines, a Christian-pagan frenzy of reveling akin to the Mardi Gras. Three celebrations are combined in one commemoration of the friendship pact between native Aetas and the newly-arrived Malays in the 13th century; a harvest thanksgiving; and a feast to the patron saint Santo Nino. Bodies and faces are daubed with soot, incredible costumes are donned, ranging from fierce warriors to Walt Disney cartoon characters and astronauts, and the revellers dance through the streets for three days to the wild Ati-Atihan rhythm reverberating from drums and church bells. On Sunday morning, a bone-weary and hangover crowd throngs to the church, where the healing powers of Santo Nino are invoked by rubbing the image over arms, legs, and backs. Then back to the streets, where the celebrations climaxes in a mixed bag procession of stomping and shouting dancers and hymn-singing women fingering their rosary beads.
 

Late January or Early February: CHINESE NEW YEAR

(The date is based on the Chinese lunar calendar. New Year is celebrated on the first day of the first new moon after the sun enters Aquarius. As any astrology buff knows, this occur sometime between 21 JAN and 19 FEB in the Gregorian calendar.) Manila's Chinatown erupts into lion dances, open-air Chinese opera performances and prodigious feasting. Relatives and friends (whether of Chinese ancestry or not) are showered with gifts of tikoy.
 

February 24-25: BALE ZAMBOANGA FESTIVAL

in Zamboanga City. A two-day celebration participated in by both Christians and Muslims of the region. It features regattas, fairs, indigenous dances, and colorful costumes.
 

March 10-16: ARAW NG DABAO

in Davao City. A six-day festival marking the anniversary of the city's founding.
 

March or April: HOLY WEEK and EASTER (National).

Religious fervor is displayed in solemn ritual, fanatical acts of penitence and joyous celebrations during the Holy Week. The most riveting of the Holy Week custom, from an unwarned visitor's point of view, is that of self-flagellation, common in certain sections of Manila, and the provinces in Luzon. On Good Friday, `flagelantes' fulfill penitential vows by trudging the streets, naked to the waist, flogging their backs into bloody stripes with spiked or glass-tipped whips. Other carry their acts of atonement to even more zealous extremes by enduring actual crucifixion for hours (short of the final agony, it should be added). These events always draw a huge crowd of spectators, looking at the scene with solemn silence, not because of piety, but of simple curiosity.

In a lighter vein is the MORIONES celebration of Marinduque island, a folk-religious festival centering upon one Longinus, the name legend has given to the unnamed centurion who pierced Jesus' side with his spear in the biblical account of the crucifixion. Longinus, so the story goes, was blind in one eye, until the blood of Jesus spattered on his face and restored his sight. In the Moriones pageant, costumed Roman centurions wearing fierce masks and elaborate Roman headgear march menacingly around the town for seven days, playing pranks and otherwise enacting the role of all-around bad guys. On Easter Sunday, they engage in a riotous pursuit of the newly-converted Longinus, in and out of private houses, around trees and through open fields, accompanied by hordes of shrieking children running alongside. Finally, the unfortunate Christian is caught and beheaded, whereupon his one-eyed mask is held aloft to signify his death. Before decapacitation, however, Longinus is permitted an impassioned speech in which he affirms his willingness to die as testimony to his faith, thus providing the required upbeat note to an otherwise disheartening climax. (Only a Filipino is emotionally endowed with the passion to write such scripts!)
 

March (movable): BAGUIO SUMMER FESTIVAL

A week-long series of ethnic dances, parades, music and sports at a time when lowlanders pour into Baguio to escape the heat.
 

March or April, Second Tuesday and Wednesday after Holy Week: TURUMBA FESTIVAL

in Pakil, Laguna. In pre-Christian days, Pakil's priestesses were noted for their healing ability. Animals were sacrificed, the priestess would mumble incantations over the viscera and then fall into a trance-induced fit of twitching. In an attempt to wean the people from this pagan practice, the Catholic friars transferred their faith from priestesses to the Virgin Mary. Devotees of Pakil's Our Lady of Sorrows now do a peculiar hobbling dance (presumably to denote infirmity) while going through a series of gestures that includes pointing at the image of the Virgin, tapping one another on the face and back and chanting `Turumba! Turumba!' Participants are not deterred by the fact that the meaning of the word `turumba' and the significance of the gestures are unknown to anyone,including themselves.
 

March 25: SINULOG FESTIVAL

in Ilog, Negros Occidental. The highlight of this celebration is the `sinulog', a fertility dance of the the Mundos, a primitive tribe of Indonesian origin.

April 24: MAGELLAN'S LANDING CELEBRATION

in Cebu City. A fluvial parade, with contests and plays, the main feature being a reenactment of Magellan's landing. A cross said to be the one planted by Magellan has a starring role.
 

May: SANTACRUZAN

is celebrated throughout the country on various dates. It is a pageant commemorating the quest for the true cross by St Helena, mother of Constantine the Great. The prettiest young women of the town, dressed in butterfly-sleeved `ternos' (ah, but this was years ago; currently, these women are now garbed with the best gown the town's rising couturier(e) can design), walk in procession under flower-bedecked canopies. These ladies are escorted by the town's eligible bachelors.
 

May: FLORES DE MAYO.

Dates vary for this national festival reminiscent of a rites-of-spring celebration. A candlelit procession of flower-bearing women (and young children) dressed in white go to the churches and offer garlands to the Virgin Mary. Singing and dancing in the churchyard follows.
 

May 14-15: CARABAO FESTIVAL

 in Pulilan, Bulacan. The lowly water buffalo (`carabao' in the Philippines) reaches new heights of bovine beauty on this harvest festival dedicated to San Isidro. Scrubbed, shaved, and polished, garlanded with flowers and decorated with ribbons, the lumbering beasts are induced to walk on their knees in penitential attitude as they parade by the church. Prizes go to the most beautiful participant.
 

May 15: PAHIYAS
 

 the harvest festival in the old towns of Sariaya and Lucban, Quezon. The whole town turns into a rainbow of colors as householders adorn their homes with vegetables, papier-mache life-size dummies dressed as farmers, and the folk-art creation unique to Pahiyas, the `kiping'. The `kiping' are brilliantly tinted rice paste wafers shaped into leaves and arranged in considerable artistry into flamboyant decorations. A procession bearing the image of San Isidro parades through the streets, passing under gift-laden bamboo arches. In the wake of the image, there is a scramble to snatch the small gifts from the bamboos.
 

May 17-19:FERTILITY DANCE

in Obando, Bulacan. In supplication to San Pascual, Santa Clara, and the Virgin of Salamabao, childless couples and lovelorn singles dance to a `pandanggo' rhthym in the churchyard and streets, praying to be granted a child or a spouse (not necessarily in that order).
 

June 24: FEAST OF SAN JUAN

in San Juan, Metro Manila. The townspeople have their own unique way of honoring John the Baptist, by dousing unwary passers-by with water.
 

June 24: HALARAN FESTIVAL

in Roxas City, Capiz. Tribal dances and festivities in commemoration of the purchase of Panay Island by ten Bornean chieftains.
 

June 28-30: ST PETER AND ST PAUL CELEBRATION

in Apalit, Pampanga, when the images are borne on a raft by fishermen down the Apalit river.

Last Friday in June: FEAST OF THE SACRED HEART

in Lucban, Quezon. In honor of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, this fetival is also known as the Festival of Giants because of the papier-mache `giants' paraded through the streets.
 

First Sunday in July: BOCAUE RIVER FESTIVAL

in Bocaue, Bulacan. A miraculous cross (the cross of Wawa), said to have been found in the Bocaue River by a fisherman 200 years ago, is enshrined in a gaily decorated pagoda on the river for the duration of the fetival.
 

July 29: SAINT MARTHA RIVER FESTIVAL

in Pateros, Metro Manila. Saint Martha, patron saint of Pateros, is honored with a procession along the Pateros River. A replica of a crocodile follows the barge carrying the image of a saint, who is said to have miraculously interceded to save the town's `balut' (fertilized duck egg) industry from a crafty crocodile many years ago.
 

August (movable): SUMBALI

in Bayombong, Nueva Ecija. A week-long festival in honor of Sto Domingo de Guzman, the highlight of which is the Sumbali dance. Dancers blacken themselves with soot, don G-strings and corn-silk wigs in imitation of the Aetas, an ethnic Negrito group, and perform a war dance.
 

September 10: SUNDUAN

in La Huerta, Paranaque in Metro Manila. Brass bands move from house to house to fetch eligible young ladies of the town, who emerge dressed in long gowns and carrying parasols. Escorted by formally attired young bachelors, they walk in procession through the town. A reception and luncheon follows at the house of the `hermana mayor' (senior host) of the feast.
 

Third Saturday in September: PENAFRANCIA

in Naga City, Camarines Sur. One of the more spectacular fluvial processions, in which the image of the Blessed virgin is transferred to the cathedral and then carried back to Penafrancia Church on a barge down the Naga River. Strangely enough, women are forbidden to take part in this homage to women.
 

September 29: ANG SINULOG or MICHAELMAS DAY

in Iligan City, Lanao del Norte. A festival in honor of St Michael, the archangel, both saint and folk hero of the Iligans, who credit him with miraculous aid in Christian-Muslim wars of earlier centuries (presumably the warriors were sober). Elaborately costumed performers depict the battle of St Michael and the dragon; devils, complete with tails and horns, wander about the city, and dancers whirl through the streets to ask or give thanks for favors from the saint.
 

November 1: ALL SAINTS' DAY.

The ancient belief of the pagan Celts that the souls of the dead return to visit their earthly homes on the eve of November 1 evolved into All Saints' Day on the Christian calendar. In the Philippines, the whole nation remembers its dead with a cheerful meeting of immediate and long-forgotten relatives in the cemetery (in some instances, this national holiday provide the sole occasion to meet one's relatives). Graves are swept, tombstones scrubbed, flowers, candles, folding chairs, and transistor radios, are arranged before settling down to the all-day vigil. At mealtimes, picnic baskets emerge and the tombs become buffet tables. Priests move hurriedly through the crowd scattering holy water on the graves.
 

Late November: GRAND CANAO

in Baguio City. People of the five mountain ethnic groups, commonly lumped together under the umbrella name Igorots, gather for their fiesta known as `canao'. This is a good opportunity for the lowlanders to see a collective pageantry of these separate tribes.
 

December 16: MISA DE GALLO

The first of the nine-day series of pre-dawn masses known as the MISA DE GALLO to mark the opening of the Philippine Christmas season, said to be the longest in the world.
 

December 24: FESTIVAL OF LANTERNS

in San Fernando, Pampanga. The star-shaped rice paper lantern, or `parol', is the symbol of Christmas in the Philippines. The San Fernando's Christmas Eve celebration features a parade of multicolored lanterns that may be as large as 45 feet in diameter, mounted on trucks and lit from within by generators.
 

December 24: PANUNULUYAN (regional).

Mary and Joseph go from house to house in search of lodging, with the whole town participating in the pageant.
 

This article was originally posted on SCF by Manuel Lopez on February 20, 1991.