FESTIVALS OF

VISAYAS

Sinulog Festival

SINULOG FESTIVAL

Celebrated every 3rd week of January in Cebu

City.
This Philippine fiesta in Visayas region
celebrates Cebu'spatron saint, the Santo Nio
(Child Christ).
This week long event is marked by
processions,street dancingand parades. This
fiesta is a local version of theMardi gras (Brazil).

Ati-atihan Festival

ATI-ATIHAN FESTIVAL

Aklan plays host to the annual Ati-atihan

festival, coinciding with the third Sunday of
January. Like the Sinulog Festival of Cebu, the
Ati-atihan celebrates the many miracles of the
Child Jesus or Santo Nino.
Ati-atihan means to be like aetasor make
believe atis. Aetas were the primary settlers in
the islands according to history books. They too
are the earliest settlers of Panay Island where
the province of Aklan is.

The festival consists of tribal dance, music,

accompanied by indigenous costumes and
weapons, and parade along the street.

The festival is probably more well-known for the

black paint that most participants put on their
bodies. The black paint that covers the whole
body contrasts starkly with the colorful costumes
and ornaments.

Dinagyang
Festival

Iloilo City

DINAGYANG FESTIVAL

TheDinagyangis a religious andcultural

festivalinIloilo City,Philippinesheld on the
fourth Sunday of January, or right after the
Sinulog In Cebu and the Ati-Atihan in Aklan.
It is held both to honor theSanto Nioand to
celebrate the arrival onPanayof Malay settlers
and the subsequent selling of the island to them
by theAtis.

Babaylan
Festival

BABAYLAN FESTIVAL

Held every19thof February in Bago City, Negros

Occidental.
The public gets a rare view into the simulated
rituals of mystics,ancienthealers and priests in
various ceremonies such as marriage, healing
and harvest.

Panaad sa Negros

PANAAD SA NEGROS

A weeklong celebration held in Bacolod City

every 2nd or 3rd week of April.
It's called the mother of festivals as it is a fusion
of fiestas of 13 cities and 19 towns of the whole
province of Negros Occidental.
Expect a colorful display of parades, bazaars,
cultural
presentations,
pageants,
shows,
fireworks and more.

Sandugo Festival

SANDUGO FESTIVAL

Sandugo Festival which literally means "one

blood", celebrates the blood compact between
local chieftain Datu Sikatuna and Captain
General Miguel Lopez de Legazpi.
Sandugo Festival is a month long celebration
culminating at Tagbilaran City, Bohol on the 3rd
week of July.
The festival is celebrated withstreet dancing,
shows, trade fairs, beauty contest and other
activities.

Masskara Festival

MASSKARA FESTIVAL

Bacolod City holds its Charter Day on the 19th of

October every year. Coinciding with its Charter
Day is the MassKara Festival, a week-long
activity that is currently dubbed as the Festival
of Smile, a take on Bacolods own monicker as the
City of Smiles.
Unlike other festivals in the Visayas, however,
the MassKara is not religious or tribal in nature.
Instead, the Festival ironically traces its roots on
tragedy.

The festival was first held in 1980, at a time

when sugar cane and sugar prices plummeted
and the livelihood of Bacolenos suffered.
It was also during that year that a terrible
maritime tragedy left more than 700 Negrenses
dead when the Don Juan and the tanker
Tacloban City collided with each other and sank.
To eclipse the tragedy and the sorrow, Bacolod
held its first MassKara Festival. The term
MassKara was coined by Ely Santiago, meaning
many faces. It also became the festivals
trademark: smiling masks worn by the
participants.

Pintado-Kasadyahan Festival

PINTADO-KASADYAHAN
FESTIVAL

Lasting a whole month, Tacloban City holds the

Pintados-Kasadyahan Festival culminating on
June 29.
The festival commemorates and fleshes out how
the Spaniards saw the early Filipinos when they
arrived in Leyte: bodies filled with tattoos and
holding weapons which were previously heated in
open fire.
In fact, pintados is how the tattoo-covered natives
were called, and thats how the festival got its
name.

Binirayan
Festival

San Jose,
Antique

BINIRAYAN FESTIVAL

fiesta dates are from the 28th to the 30th of

December in San Jose Antique.
Ethnic pageantry reaches a new high on the
beaches of Maybato in San Jose and Malandong
in Hamtik, where the drama of the first Malay
settlement at Malandong is played out.

Manggahan Festival

MANGGAHAN
FESTIVAL

Month long celebration of Guimaras rich culture,

and their feast of thanksgiving for having
bestowed a rich land where delicious mangoes are
being grown.
Originally, it was just a week-long celebration of
Guimaras as an independent province since May
22, 1992, but through the years, with all the
success that the province has attained,
Manggahan Festival has evolved to a more
vibrant and fun- filled month long event.