Top 10 Best Festivals in the Philippines
The Philippines has a wide selection of festivals. Which Philippine festival do you like best? Vote for your favorite and explain why you love that festival!For me, the Sinulog Festival in Cebu City is the grandest of all Philippine festivals. Why? It is a combination of religious and cultural activities held every January in Cebu. It is a religious activity since it is the fiesta of Sr. Sto. Niño de Cebu, and millions of devotees from all over the Philippines come to Cebu to join the fluvial procession, solemn procession, and most importantly, to attend the highly celebrated mass at the Basilica church in honor of Sr. Sto. Niño.
It is also a cultural activity since it showcases the Sinulog Grand Parade, participated in by different contingents not only from Cebu but also from all over the Philippines.
MassKara (a combination of the English word "mass" and the Spanish "kara," meaning "face") is a festival that started in the early 1980s when world prices for sugar plummeted, and Bacolod City, the country's sugar capital, was hit by a major crisis.
The city government and artists banded together to find ways to lift the people's spirits (not to mention their deteriorating economy), so they decided to throw a party!
Held every third weekend of October, or on the closest weekend to October 19, it dramatizes the steadfast character of the Negrenses and symbolizes what the people of the City of Smiles do best: putting on a happy face when confronted with challenges.
When you go to the MassKara Festival, the fun pageantry will give you several days of visual overload. People garbed in elegant and ingenious costumes dance on the streets, their masks reflective of the jovial Negrense spirit. Costumes are made with fabrics of different colors and patterns, embellished with exotic feathers, shiny sequins, multicolored beads, and paired with towering headgear.
Dinagyang is the most awarded festival in the country, which is why it's called the queen festival of the Philippines. It is a combination of religious, cultural, and historical activities, with the culmination on the 4th Sunday of January. Dinagyang is a trendsetter and one of the unique festivals, unlike others that are mostly synonymous with each other.
It features street dancing with good choreography, style, speed, energy, and precision, along with drumbeats that could stir your senses to dance and go with the beat. The most awaited contingent and consistent top 5 winner in Aliwan, Dinagyang offers a world-class performance and receives loads of invitations locally and abroad.
A festival with a full package: the beat, the dance, vibrant colors, nice costumes, and theater at its best. Dinagyang is the best among the rest!
The Inagta Festival is the oldest festival in the province of Negros Oriental, truly a celebration of authentic Negrense culture! The dance ritual was Christianized upon the arrival of the Spanish colonizers, after the foundation of the parish of Siaton. St. Nicholas of Bari was chosen as the town's patron saint, and since then, the religious image of San Nicolas has been carried and paraded around the town proper and included in the Inagta dance ritual.
Shouts and chants of Viva! Senyor San Nicolas! are responded to by the people with Viva!
You must see this festival because it is jaw-dropping. The dances have excellent choreography, and they use very colorful, attractive, and unique costumes that will amaze you. So, what are you waiting for? Come to Surigao City and watch the breathtaking Bonok-Bonok Festival.
Halaran Festival is one of the best festivals in the Philippines.
The Ati-Atihan is known as the Mother of all Philippine Festivals. It is the oldest and most well-preserved festival in the country. The festival itself is not a creation of a local government or a recreation of history. It has always been celebrated with black paint and riotous drums since the precolonial era. It is even mentioned in Pigafetta's chronicles when they landed in Panay.
Super fun! Everybody gets to join in! It's also said to be miraculous, as Sto. Niño is believed to possess healing powers. At this time of the year, every street is turned into a place where you can have fun, with much dancing and booze for the party lovers!
In this festival, fruits are celebrated, but these are not your ordinary kind of fruits. Each and every one of them is unique. For example, the Durian is called the "King of the Fruits" and the Mangosteen is known as the "Queen of the Fruits." The fruits are also cheapest here.
The floats in this festival are very colorful, thanks to the flowers grown in the city. And this fest is known internationally.
The festival emphasizes thanksgiving for a bountiful harvest, regardless of religion, culture, tribe, etc. It's a culmination of the people's gratitude for the blessings they receive, portrayed in colorful costumes, parades, skits, and floats. These have become quite popular with both locals and tourists alike. It's a sight to see!
The Newcomers
This is a great festival.
A festival to give thanks for the whole year and to welcome the new one with faith, love, peace, hope, and joy.
Wanna have great fun before your year ends?
Come and join the Alikaraw Festival!
This festival is awesome because of its uniqueness. Even though it is not famous, it is amazing.
The dancers wear chicken-like costumes and dance like real chickens. Try to discover this festival!
Amazing! Very unique and lively.
Must be at number 1.
Panagbenga is the best festival in the Philippines. It's more colorful, more mesmerizing, happier than other festivals, and more luxurious than the Rose Festival of the United States of America. More than 6.5 million tourists (foreign and local) arrive in Baguio just to watch the grandest and the mother festival of the north.
I'm not from Baguio, but my family and I travel all the way from Manila just to join the feast. Thumbs up for a very fun feast and well-disciplined Baguio people. I salute you.
Bailes de Luces of La Castellana, literally translated as Dance of Lights, is a Festival of Hope and Thanksgiving. Celebrated every 30th of December with a Street Dancing Competition and on the 5th of January with an Arena Showdown, Bailes de Luces is a spectacular festival that showcases the Filipino's creative mind coupled with the wildest of imagination.
It is the most colorful festival in town, utilizing technology through Light Emitting Diodes that radiate colorful rays of light throughout the performance. This festival is best watched live to experience the magical interplay of colorful lights wrapping every dancer's body.
It is a one-of-a-kind festivity, the only one in the world. After performing in a variety show on national television (ABS-CBN's It's Showtime), La Castellana's Bailes de Luces gained not just a score of 9.9/10 but also a minute or more of standing ovations from both the judges and the viewers. A truly peculiar, spectacular, and grandiose festival. Vamos a bailar en La Castellana!
Bantayan Festival showcases the bravery and heroism of the early Guimbalanons who defended the town of Guimbal against Moro pirates.
Now, it has become a festival with a unique chanting and dance-drama competition. Guimbal - where fun and excitement never end!
Pasigarbo sa Sugbo is Cebu's Festival of Festivals. It showcases everything that the cities and municipalities of Cebu can offer. This enables the lesser-known parts of Cebu to become well known not just to Cebuanos but also to other people, so they can be aware of the abundance of nature found throughout Cebu.
One of the best festivals is Pasigarbo sa Sugbo. It's one of a kind, hence it's a festival of festivals. A showcase of culture, local products, and the promotion of tourism in each town and city of the province of Cebu.
For me, the Buyogan Festival really ought to be recognized. It's a well-known festival in the Philippines because of its unique theme featuring bees. They are the most popular with bees.
It is very pleasant to see, especially the flowers used in this festival. Colorful, wonderful, and all I can say is wow! So, you must try to watch this festival. I live in Davao, but still, that doesn't erase the fact that this festival is awesome.
August 27! The date you should not miss. The Buyogan Festival of Abuyog, Leyte, with its colorful grand parade and mind-blowing ritual performances! Mark that date on your calendar.
The greatest festival of all time!
Pintados was the term used by Spanish colonists to describe the tattooed indigenous Cebuano Visayan people. They were found on the islands of Cebu, Bohol, the eastern part of Negros, Samar, and Leyte in the Visayas region of the Philippines.
Colorful and vibrant festival.
Yes, I've had a lot of experiences. I've really enjoyed this festival. The Festival of Lights is highly appreciated. I experienced more fun in Tacloban.
May 15, just 3 days to go to one of the most colorful festivals in the world! Pahiyas!
I love the place where there are a lot of fruits that I have seen.
The Buglasan Festival showcases the tourist spots of the 20 towns and 5 cities throughout the province of Negros Oriental. It's a first-ever experience unlike any other festival. The Buglasan Festival promotes Negros Oriental as the province with the best-kept tourism secret in the Philippines.
We have lots of festival dances to offer. It's a province-wide celebration and a collection of festivals of festivals. Come and visit Dumaguete City every 2nd week of October to celebrate with us.
I love the Buglasan Festival because it showcases how rich the province of Negros really is. It even gives us a glimpse of each municipality's tourism and cultural qualities.
Paraw Regatta is the symbol of Ilonggos' resilience amidst calamities and challenges. Indeed, Iloilo has undergone many trials, but it remains dignified and respected. Just like the Paraw Regatta, the country's oldest sailing festival, Ilonggos year after year showcase spectacular sailing boats with magnificent paintings by Ilonggo artists.
It is both a display of Ilonggo culture and tradition. This is one proof that navigation has been an old practice for the Ilonggos. In fact, the festival is held near the country's first maritime school in Villa Arevalo, Iloilo City. Could this be proof that Ilonggos dominate the number of Filipino seafarers?