Festival Dances

Festival Dances
• Are cultural dances performed to the strong
beats of percussion instruments by a
community of people sharing the same culture
usually done in honor of a patron saint or in
thanksgiving of a bountiful harvest
• Maybe religious or secular
• Best thing: add to merry-making & festivities
where they are celebrated
• Festival dances draw the people’s culture by
portraying the people’s ways of life through
movements, costumes & implements inherent to
their place of origin
• Filipinos do festivals primarily to:
a) Celebrate our unity amidst the diversity of
culture
b) Celebrate our industry bringing about a
bountiful harvest
• Consistently crowd producing activity
leading to upliftment of commmunity’s
economy due to it’s tourism &
entertainment that attracts foreign &
domestic tourist to visit a place
eventually leading to the elevation of the
Filipino’s quality of life
• Festival dances give a reflection of
the unity of the Filipino community
that despite the economic, social,
environmental, cultural and
political challenges we face
everyday, there can be no other
resilient than ours.
Famous Religious
Festivals in the
Country
 Religious Festivals are held in honor of a
certain religious icon or secular or non-
religious in thanksgiving or celebration of
people’ s industry & bountiful harvest
 Sinulog Festival
• Date: 3rd Sunday of January
The Sinulog is an annual festival
held on the third Sunday of
January in Cebu City,
Philippines. The festival honors
the child Jesus, known as the
Santo Niño (Holy Child), patron
of the city of Cebu.
 Sinulog Festival
• It is a dance ritual that
commemorates the Cebuano
people’s pagan origin, and their
acceptance of Christianity.
• The festival features a street
parade with participants in bright-
colored costumes dancing to the
rhythm of drums, trumpets, and
native gongs.
 Dinagyang Festival
Date: 4th Sunday of January
The Dinagyang is a religious and
cultural festival in Iloilo City,
Philippines held on the fourth Sunday
of January. It is held both to honor the
Santo Niño and to celebrate the arrival
on Panay of Malay settlers and the
subsequent selling of the island to
them by the Atis.
 Dinagyang Festival
Date: 4th Sunday of January
Dinagyang was voted as the
best Tourism Event for 2006,
2007 and 2008 by the
Association of Tourism
Officers in the Philippines.
 Ati-Atihan
Date: 3rd Sunday of January
The Ati-Atihan Festival is a feast
held in honor of the Santo Niño held
annually in January concluding on
third Sunday, in the town of Kalibo,
Aklan in the Philippines. It is the
wildest among Philippine fiestas and
considered as the Mother of All
Philippine festivals.
 Ati-Atihan
Date: 3rd Sunday of January
Celebrants paint their faces with
black soot and wear bright,
outlandish costumes as they dance in
revelry during the last three days of
this two week-long festival. Catholics
and non-Catholics alike observe this
special day with processions,
parades, dancing, and merrymaking.
 Penafrancia
Date: Third Saturday and Sunday of
September
The Peñafrancia Festival in Naga City,
Camarines Sur, Bicol Region. During the
festivities, people attend church services,
followed by parades on the streets,
fireworks, and feasting. The ninth day,
usually falling on the third Saturday of
September, is marked by a fluvial
procession.
 Penafrancia
Date: Third Saturday and Sunday of
September
The image of the Virgin Mary is
carried on a barge which is trailed by
thousands of devotees in boats gliding
alongside. People who line the river
banks shout “Viva la Virgen! as the
Virgin passes by.
 Higantes
Date: 23rd November
Angono, Rizal celebrates the “Higantes
Festival” which coincides with the Feast
of Saint Clement, the Patron Saint of
Angono. The higantes are made of
paper-mache. Higantes measures four to
five feet in diameter and ten to twelve
feet in height.
 Higantes
Date: 23rd November
Traditionally, it began in the last
century when Angono was a
Spanish hacienda. This higantes
was influenced by the Mexican art
form of paper-mache brought by
the Spanish priests to the
Philippines.
 Longganisa Festival
Date : 24th January
• Longganisa Festival attracted
hundreds of local and foreign
tourists who lined up the main
streets of Vigan to witness
longganisa cooking contests
and street dancing
competitions
 Longganisa Festival
Date : 24th January
• Biguenos have always been known
to be good cooks and food
aficionados, but the Vigan
longganiza (native pork sausage)
stands out to be the most popular
and has become synonymous to
Vigan
.
 Kinabayo Festival
Date : 25th July
• Kinabayo Festival which is celebrated
every July 25 in Dapitan City
Zamboanga del Norte Philippines
celebrate a mysterious and colorful
pageant re-enacting the Spanish-
Moorish wars, mainly the Battle of
Covadonga where the Spanish forces
under General Pelagio took their last
stand against Saracan.
 Kinabayo Festival
Date : 25th July
• They were able to overturn the
tide through the miraculous spirit
of St. James. The addition of local
color and modernism has made
this annual celebration a popular
attraction which brings
thousands of tourists to the
Dapitan City
 Pintados
Date: 29th June (Leyte)
The Pintados-Kasadyaan Festival is a merry-
making event lasting a whole month. These
festivals are said to have began from the feast
day of Señor Santo Niño, held every June 29th.
The Leyteños celebrate a religious festival in a
unique and colorful way. Since the Visayans
are experienced in the art of body tattooing,
men and women are fond of tattooing
themselves.
 Pintados
Date: 29th June (Leyte)
The Pintados Festival displays the rich
cultural heritage, incorporating native
music and dances, of the people of Leyte
and Samar. The Leyte Kasadya-an
Festival of Festivals, meanwhile,
showcases the unique culture and
colorful history of the Province of Leyte.
 Pattaradday Festival
Month: May
Señor Santiago / Santiago City, Isabela
Pattaraday which means “unity” is an
Ybanag word, best describe how mixed
cultural and ethnic groups—be they
indigenous residents or multinational and
domestic migrants running economic business
enterprises in the city—stay together in
harmony. It is celebrated on the occasion of the
founding anniversary of Santiago.
 Pattaradday Festival
Month: May
Señor Santiago / Santiago City, Isabela
It celebrates the unity of the ethno-
linguistic groups that have merged in
the city to make it the melting pot of
culture of Region 02 and contributed to
the city’s progress and development-
unity in action.
 Sangyaw Festival
Date: July / Sto. Niño
Sangyaw Festival is a religious and socio-
cultural event in the Philippines. It was
revived in 2008 by the city government
of Tacloban, Philippines. Sangyaw
means "to herald news" in Waray
language. It was held a day before the
city fiesta. The festival was first held in
1974 but was cancelled in 1987.
 Pahiyas Festival
Date: May 15 (Lucban, Quezon)
The Pahiyas Festival is a festival of
thankfulness after a bountiful harvest.
'Pahiyas' literally means “precious
offering,” and the practice dates back to
the 16th century. People celebrate it in
honor of San Isidro Labrador, the
farmer's patron saint.
 Famous Non-Religious
Festivals in the Country
 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. Bangus Festival, first celebrated
in 2002 to promote Dagupan as the Bangus
Capital of the The Philippines commences with
the lighting of 1,000 barbecue grills lined up to
cook thousands of bangus, which stretches up
to two kilometers.
 Bangus Festival
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 the World.
 Bambanti Festival
“Bambanti” is the Ilocano word for
scarecrow. It is celebrated on the 3rd or
4th week of January. Though scary,
Bambanti has been the sentinel or
guardian of the fields which farmers
attributed their good harvest of rice
and corn, the prime agricultural
product of Isabela.
 Bambanti Festival
The Scarecrow, in the pervading
pop culture, is often perceived as
unusual, frightening, and an
object of curiosity. In reality
however, the Scarecrow remains a
beneficial component of the
agricultural sector.
 Bambanti Festival
Faithfully serving as the guardian of
the crops, its unwavering presence
witnesses the stages of growth and
generous yield that sustains the
livelihood for the agricultural
community of Isabela.
 Mammangui Festival
If you happen to pass by Ilagan City, Isabela
every May 30th, you shouldn’t miss out on the
Mammangui Festival. “Mammangui” is an
Ibanag word which stands for corn and as the
name implies, this festival celebrates the corn
harvest of the farmers of Isabela’s capital and
largest city by land area. This is celebrated
together with the Binallay Festival, which
honors the city’s rice cake industry as it is also
a rice-producing locale.
 Mango Festival
As a way of promoting and giving thanks
for a good harvest, the people of Zambales
annually celebrate the six-day Mango
Festival in March or April in Iba. The
festival is a celebration of a bountiful
harvest of mangoes and other agricultural
products which the province is known for.
It is also aimed to highlight the attractions
and places of interest in all of its towns.
Panagbenga Festival
Date: February
Panagbenga is month-long annual flower
festival occurring in Baguio. 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. The festival
includes floats that are decorated with
flowers
Panagbenga Festival
Date: February
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.
 Paru-Paro Festival
Date: November 26
Paru-Paro Festival is the official festival of the
City of Dasmariñas enacted then by City Mayor
Jennifer Austria Barzaga and the Sangguniang
Panlungsod.
The festival is an annual event that features the
“metamorphosis” of Dasmariñas from being a
barrio to becoming one of the fastest developing
cities in the country, with around 780,000
population as of the year 2022.
 Pahimis Festival
Date: Feb 22 – 24
PAHIMIS is the Amadeo word for
“pasasalamat” (thanksgiving) in the olden
times. As a tradition, coffee farmers gave
away his last can of harvest as a sign of
thanksgiving, believing that by doing so,
luck and abundance would come on the
next harvest season.
 Ibon Ebon Festival
Ibon-Ebon festival, also called “Birds
and Eggs Festival,” is a celebration held
during the first and second days of
February in Candaba, Pampanga. It
was first celebrated on February 1 and
2 in 1998 and has been running
successfully up to now. This festival is
also a celebration for another year of
bountiful harvest.
 Masskara
Masskara Festival is held on the 3rd week of
October in Bacolod city. The festival always
features street dancing with participants
wearing smiling mascaras while dancing to
the different music. Other activities include
in the festival are the Masskara Queen
pageant, the Drum and Bugle
competitions, food festivals and specials
events that change every year.
 T’nalak
T'nalak or Tinalak is an indigenous woven
fabric made from abaca by the T'boli tribe of
South Cotabato in the Philippines. It was
celebrated every 18th of July
“t’nalak,” a colorful abaca cloth, created and
woven by the women of the T’boli tribe of
South Cotabato. The design of the cloth is
unique and “dreamed up” by the person who
creates it. That’s why the province is known
as “The Land of the Dreamweavers.”
According to the T'boli, a
t'nalak should never be cut or
washed since it is considered
sacred. They believe that the
art of weaving was taught to
their ancestors in a dream by
the goddess Fu Dalu.
 Ammungan
Nueva Viscaya celebrated their 175th founding
anniversary with the Ammungan Festival held from
May 21 to May 24, 2014.
Ammungan is a Gaddang word which means ‘to
gather together’. The activities of Nueva Viscaya’s
Ammungan Festival included a street parade and
dance competition, agri-trade fair, pageants, float
competition, free medical and dental services,
traditional games, a skydiving exhibition, a kite and
lantern festival, and a fireworks display, amongst
other things.
 Binatbatan Festival
The Viva Vigan Binatbatan Festival
boasts of joyful colors which
envelopes the whole of "World
Heritage City," as Vigan, Ilocos Sur is
known for. The festival got its name
from the Iluko term batbatin, or
separating cotton balls from the
seeds of the local fruit tree kapas
sanglay. The cotton balls are then
 Binatbatan Festival
The Binatbatan festival features a
street dancing and showdown
competition wherein participants
use "abel" (woven cloth) costumes
and sway in their original
panagbatbat dances. Abel products
are showcased during the festival.
 Binatbatan Festival
The street dancing depicted the long
standing way the Ilocanos beat the
cotton pods with two bamboo sticks
to separate the seeds from the fluff
called batbat. "Batbat" is the first
process in making the Iluko, "Abel."
Thank You !!!
Mr. Angelo V. Duarte
Teacher 1 - MAPEH