Festivals

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• “Philippine culture is best experienced in events and activities that highlight what Filipinos are passionate about— faith, love for country, family, beautiful women, and celebrations. Filipinos love to celebrate, and there is no better way of celebrating than by having festivals:
  
  Ati-atihan Festival,
  Kalibo, Aklan
  (3rd week of January) -
  
  One of the biggest festivals in the country, commemorates the feast of the Sto Nino with a week-long street party. Groups of dancers dressed as the aboriginal Atis, representing different communities from the city participate in the festive weeklong street party that highlights during the feast of the patron saint.
  
  Sinulog,
  Cebu City
  (3rd Sunday of January) -
  
  Cebu City's grandest fiesta is a century old tradition that reveres the Holy Child or more commonly known in the Philippines as Sto. Nino. The festival features a unique prayer-danceharmonized to the beat of drums and shouts of "Pit Señor! Viva Sto. Niño!”.
  
  Dinagyang,
  Iloilo City
  (4th Weekend of January) -
  
  Ilonggos put on their "Ati" warrior costumes and black body paint during this colorful and heart-thumping festival.
  
  Panagbenga Flower Festival,
  Baguio City
  (4th weekend of February) -
  
  Flower floats graze the cool streets of the City of Pines during this well-known fiesta.
  
  Pahiyas Festival,
  Lucban, Quezon
  (May 15) -
  
  is the annual harvest festival and feast of San Isidro Labrador. Witness the colourful display of kiping and other thanksgiving offerings hung in the houses that line the street where the procession of the image of the patron saint will pass.
  
  Masskara Festival,
  Bacolod City
  (October) -
  
  Giant papier-mache effigies join the parade to add to the spectacle of the celebration coinciding with the city’s charter day celebration. The festival features carnivals, fairs and a mardi gras-style parade by costumed and masked street dancers.
  
  Other unique Philippine cultural events and activities include the cultural spectacle Santacruzan — a May-time procession of beautiful Philippine maidens staged as a re-enactment of St. Helen’s quest for the Holy Cross; the awesome display of Filipino religiosity in the frenzied Black Nazarene procession during the Quiapo fiesta every January 9 in Manila; the Holy Week rituals in San Fernando, Pampanga — proof of the Filipino’s and Philippine culture’s deep Catholic roots; and the displays (giant Christmas lanterns), rituals (dawn masses) and traditions (noche buena feasts) that mark the Filipinos’ celebration of Christmas.”
  
  Source: Department of Tourism