Introduction Festivals in the Philippines are an integral aspect of the local culture, known for their grand and vibrant celebrations. Festivals in the Philippines are fairly common occurrence, with over 42,000 major and minor festivals celebrated across the country. Given the Spanish influence on Catholic spirituality in the Philippines, a number of festivals celebrated here are religion-based. Besides that, there are a number of other festivals that mark important historic events. Irrespective of the origin, locals go all-out to celebrate each of these festivals. Costumes, dances, parades and some of the most elaborate processions are a site worth witnessing. Festival Dance The Philippines has so many festivals: there are town fiestas celebrating foundation days, patron saints and a combination of both. These festivals are occasions when and where people converge. But what are festival dances? These are 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. Moreover, festival dances draw peoples’ culture by portraying the peoples way of life through movements, costumes and implements inherent to their place of origin.Furthermore, why do we celebrate festival dances? To conserve Filipino traditions and values we need festivals and dances. It is just a way to think of past and be thankful to God for al the things given. A festival is a celebration that repeats once in a year and involves specia activities or amusements. Festivals bring people closer to each other and make social bonds ‘They are reflection of the unity of the Filipino community that despite their economic, social environmental, cultural and political challenges we face every day, there can be no other ract more resilient than ours. Nature of Philippines Festival Dances Religious - in honor of a certain religious icon. Secular or Non-Religious ~ in thanksgiving or celebration of peoples’ industry and ‘bountiful harvest. Religious Festivals Sinulog Cebu City Sto. Nino January Dinagyang Hilo City Sto. Nino January AtiAtihan Kalibo, Aklan Sto. Nino January Penafrancia Bicol Virgin Mary September Higantes Angono, Rizal Saint Clement November Longganisa Vigan, Hocos Sur Saint Paul January Kinabayo Dapitan City James the Great July Pintados de Pintados City, Sto. Nino March Passi Milo Pattarradday Santiago City Senor Santiago MayReligious Festivals Sinulog Dinagyang Ati-Atihan Penafrancia Higantes Longganisa Kinabayo Pintados de Passi Pattarradday Sangyaw Cebu City Hoilo City Kalibo, Aklan Bicol Angono, Rizal Vigan, locos Sur Dapitan City Pintados City, lloilo Santiago City Tacloban City Sto. Nino Sto. Nino Sto. Nino Virgin Mary Saint Clement Saint Paul James the Great Sto. Nino Senor Santiago Sto. Nino January January January September November January July March May JulySecular/Non-Religious Festivals Bambanti Mammangui Mango Panagbenga Ibon Ebon Masskara Tnalak Ammungan Binatbatan Isabela City of Ilagan Iba, Zambales Baguio City Pampanga Bacolod City Koronadal, Cotabato Nueva Vizcaya Vigan, Ilocos Sur Scarecrow Corn Mango Flower Migratory Birds Egg Industry Mask (Sugar Industry) Colorful Abaca Gathering of Tribal Industries WeavingBatingaw Festival The Batingaw —_—Festival commemorates the legendary “Kampanang into” which Cabuyao is known. The celebration always starts with —_—the simultaneous ringing of chureh bells, which believes, bring good agricultural harvest. Highlights of the five-day festival includes the colorful street dancing, singing contest, trade fair exhibits & fireworks,Higantes Festival Angono celebrates _—the “Higantes Festival” which coincides with the Feast of Saint Clement, the Patron Saint of Angono. Higantes Festival is now promoted as tourism-generating event in the country. This attracts numerous tourist from all over the world. The higantes are made of paper-mache. Higantes measures four to five feet in diameter and ten to twelve feet in height. 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.Some of the Famous Festivals in CALABARZON Pahiyas Festival Lucban celebrates the Pahiyas Festival in honor of the patron saint of farmers, St. Isidore. This festival showcases a street of houses which are adored with fruits, vegetables, agricultural products, handicrafts and kiping, a rice-made decoration, —_ which afterwards can be eaten grilled or fried. The houses are judged and the best one is proclaimed the winner.Panagbenga Festival 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 unlike those used in Pasadena’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.Masskara Festival The MassKara Festival is a week-long festival held each year in Bacolod City, the capital of Negros Occidental province. The festival features a street dance competition where people from all walks of life troop to the streets to see colorfully-masked dancers gyrating to the rhythm of Latin musical beats in a display of mastery, gaiety, coordination and stamina. ‘The word MassKara has a double meaning. First, it is a fusion of the English word “mass” or many and “kara”, the Spanish word for “face.” MassKara then becomes a “mass of faces,” and these faces have to be smiling to project Bacolod already known in the late 70's as the City of Smiles. Sample video: https://www. youtube.com /watch?v=PrwhWIbKRh8Some of the Famous Festival Dances in the Country Sinulog Festival The Sinulog is an annual festival held on the third Sunday of January in ‘The festival honors the child Jesus, known as the Santo Nino (Holy Child), patron of the city of Cebu. 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. Sample video: https: //www.youtube.com/watch?v=60MUWqa7iL4