Filipino culture is known to be diverse and colorful and the people of Laguna are no stranger to this. Laguna has its own cultural festivities that the people are proud of. The festivals of Laguna have been inspired by the 1500s Spanish period, allowing for a rich and fun experience. Here are some of the festivals of Laguna!
Anilag Festival
Photo from: www.lagunahotspring.com
The Anilag Festival is, in my opinion, the most important and the most colorful festival in all of Laguna. It is celebrated annually on the second week of March and it is celebrated throughout the week. The festival is held to celebrate the creation of Laguna and its inhabitants and serves as a sort of "thanksgiving" event. You would definitely enjoy watching the street dance competition, float contest, and other music competitions. Various events are organized to drum up the passions and engagement of all. The event shows how thankful the citizens are for how prosperous the region has become in terms of agriculture and tourism.
Pinya Festival
The festival of Pinya is a festival held in the small, but busy town of Calauan, Laguna. The festival is held to celebrate the product that the town claims is the "sweetest of its kind", Pineapple or Pinya. As a person who's visited Calauan itself to witness the festival, I can tell you that the festival is surely lively as the citizens are really proud of their prized fruit. The Pinya Festival started in May, 2003 as the highlight in the celebration of the town’s fiesta, the feast of San Isidro Labrador. The festivities include Trade Fair Exhibit, Nightly Cultural Presentations, Culinary Contest, Search for Binibining Calauan, Grand Float Parade and Mardigras Street Dancing.
The Trade Fair Exhibit features the products of the town, most of them products made out of pineapple such as delicacies and the pinya cloth- textile woven from pinya leaves and is the cloth used for the Philippine’s native attire, the barong. Nightly Cultural presentations showcase talents of the youth as they belted out songs and present dance numbers. The Culinary Contest is a cookfest wherein original recipes’ main ingredient is the pinya. The celebration will not be complete without the float parade, with beautiful floats representing each of the town’s barangay, and the much awaited Mardigras Street Dancing Competition with different schools competing with the students wearing colorful costumes
Coconut Festival
The Coconut Festival is held in San Pablo City, the city of Seven Lakes. The festival has placed the city as one of the most famous tourist attractions in the country. The festival is a weeklong celebration in honor of the patron saint, Paul the Hermit. The celebration started in 1996, with the intent of promoting the city and its main product, the coconut. The "mardi gras" is the highlight of the event and is mostly composed of students and groups with garbs made from coconut trees while dancing to indigenous music.
Sambalilo Festival
The Sambalilo Festival is held in Cavinti, Laguna. It is one of the most colorful and prosperous festivals in the province of Laguna. It is held to celebrate the handmade sombrero (hat) made from pandan that has been the foremost livelihood of the people since time immemorial. The festival's highlights include Trade Fair Exhibits where they promote the local products, Cavinti's Got Talent where they hold a talent show for people of all kinds to join, Brass Band Bonanza, Street Dancing, a Fireworks Display, the Cavinti Fun Run, different kinds of Palarong Pinoy (Traditional or cultural games), Exhibition Games of PBA players vs. Cavinti All Stars and the world's biggest Sambalilo.
Tsinelas Festival
Source: hellotravel.com
The Tsinelas Festival that is held in Liliw, Laguna is also held solely due to how proud the citizens are of their local product. The little town is actually the Footwear Capital of Laguna, being the source of quality footwear, most notably tsinelas (slippers). No wonder not only residents of neighboring towns patronize their products but balikbayans as well. It is held originally on April 5-7, and the first iteration was a success with the president of the time, President Gloria Macapagal Aroyo, attending the event. This almost 4-year old 5-day festival showcases street party featuring all night dancing, street dancing participated in by different cultural dance troops who perform native and traditional dances depicting the life of the early Liliweños in participation, Music in the Making, and the search for Mutya ng Liliw. The festival also showcases other native products such as uraro (arrow root) cookies and lambanog ( coconut wine) and other local delicacies.
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