Philippines Holidays & Festivals

The observance of the Holy Week is part of the Christian celebration of the Lenten season. Traditionally, Lent lasts for forty days, coinciding with the time Jesus spent fasting in the desert. This cycle, however, is calculated differently depending on the Christian denomination. The Holy Week is the last week …

As much as Filipinos are religiously devout, they are also hopelessly comic. Leave it to them to put a mundane (and hilarious) twist to liturgical celebrations. St. John the Baptist’s festival on June 24 is observed all over the country with water dousing ritual. Generally, the people do it the …

One may think that paganism is a relic of the past in a country steeped with Vatican influence, but such is not always the case. Pagan festivals have managed to survive in the Philippines, even if they evolved to accommodate religious elements that were introduced when the Spanish arrived in …

“Kadayawan sa Dabaw” started as a tribal festival in the 1970s to showcase the indigenous peoples’ rituals of celebration after a bountiful harvest. To entice investment into the region after a tumultuous Martial Law regime, local executives decided to bring to the fore the agricultural and natural bounty of Davao …

If you’re making your way to the Philippines any time this year, check out this “Long Weekend Guidelines for 2013” by Jonas Roque. At a quick glance, you’ll be able to know which days in a month are declared as official holidays, and which dates are marked as non-working days. …

Jose Rizal and Andres Bonifacio are two foremost Philippine heroes because of their pivotal roles in the country’s quest for independence from Spain. Accordingly, they are commemorated on separate dates. To ensure that younger generations are also introduced to lesser known, often unsung, characters who contributed to Philippine freedom and …

Filipinos fought for their freedom from Spanish colonial rule for years. The national revolution led by the Katipunan (secret society of patriots) in 1896 hastened the road to independence, with Emilio Aguinaldo at the helm (after internal power struggles that led to the execution of Katipunan leader Andres Bonifacio). With …

For a predominantly Catholic country like the Philippines, important days of the Holy Week are national holidays. Maundy Thursday is the first of these Triduum (three days before Easter) holidays. Maundy Thursday 2013 falls on March 28. Community Preparations for Maundy Thursday Households along the “Via Crucis” or the Way …

The Visayas in Central Philippines is home to a handful of nationally-renowned religious and cultural festivals that are considered to be some of the most colorful in the country. On your (first/next) visit to the Philippines, you may want to plan your trip around Visayan festivals to see not only …

It was April 9, 1942. To overrun the Southwest Pacific, Japan had to capture the Philippines so they can establish their own naval base in Manila Bay and launch their attacks to Australia and the Pacific Basin. The Japanese were denied entry by Filipino and American servicemen who defended, for …

The Philippines was a Spanish colony for more than 300 years. As a result, almost 94% of the population is Roman Catholic. This makes the country a fascinating and intriguing multi-sensory destination when the Catholic Church celebrates major religious festivals and liturgical traditions. From Jerusalem to Calvary The Holy Week …

Labour Day, also known as May Day or International Workers’ Day, is the celebration of the international labour movement; the event is commemorated yearly on the 1st of May. The labour (or labor) movement is a term encompassing the development of a collective group of working people, to push for …