Non-religious festival

PANAGBANGA FESTIVAL

The Panagbenga Festival is held yearly during the month of February. The
celebrations are held for over a month and peak periods are the weekends.
The Panagbenga Festival showcases the many floral floats and native
dances. The fragrant smells that could be presently teasing olfactory
senses are probably less from the now-dried flowers from Valentine’s Day
than air floating all the way from Baguio City. At this time of year, the City of
Pines is almost surely in flower fury over Panagbenga festival, the city’s
biggest festival.
Panagbenga is a kankanaey term for “a season of blooming.” It is also
known as the Baguio Flower Festival, a homage to the beautiful flowers the
city is famous for as well as a celebration of Baguio’s re-establishment.
Since February 1995, it has been held to help Baguio forget the 1990
earthquake that distressed much of the city.
Panagbenga festival will have spectators enjoying a multiple floral and float
parades over two days. The Baguio Flower Festival Association (BFFA) will
have a street dancing parade and band exhibition. The Baguio Flower
Festival Foundation (BFFF), meanwhile, will hold a parade. So where
spectators should be stationed to not miss any of the float and floral
parades? Session Road and Burnham Park. A search for the Mr. and Ms.
Baguio Flower Festival, FM Panagbenga Pop
Fiesta, Skateboard competition and Dolls of Japan exhibit were added to
the BFFA calendar. The festival is supported by constituents of La Trinidad,
La Union, Pangasinan, Marinduque and Masbate.
Non-religious festival

MASKARA FESTIVAL

The 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.
Non-religious festival

KAAMULAN FESTIVAL

“Kaamulan” is from the Binukid word “amul” which means “to gather”. It is a
gathering of Bukidnon tribespeople for a purpose. It can mean a datuship
ritual, a wedding ceremony, a thanksgiving festival during harvest time, a
peace pact, or all of these put together.
Showcasing the unique indigenous culture of Bukidnon, the Kaamulan is
held annually in the province, particularly in Malaybalay City, the provincial
capital, from the second half of February to March 10, which latter date
marks the anniversary of the creation of Bukidnon as a province in 1917.
As an ethnic festival, the Kaamulan celebrates the customs and traditions
of the seven tribal groups that originally inhabited the Bukidnon region,
namely, the Bukidnon, Higaonon, Talaandig, Manobo, Matigsalug,
Tigwahanon and Umayamnon. Several tribal folks representing these
seven hill tribes of Bukidnon gather in unity with the local dwellers in town,
wearing their intricately woven costumes studded with
trinkets, anklets, earrings, necklaces, leglets, headdresses and amulets.
They dance together, chant, perform ancient rituals, and compete in
indigenous sports.
Non-religious festival

KADAYAWAN FESTIVAL

It is a celebration of Good Harvest! This globally famous festival is a weeklong

celebration and thanksgiving for nature’s bountiful harvest. Kadayawan Festival is being
celebrated every 3rd Week of August. A celebration of the plentiful harvests of fruits and
orchids during the season. Kadayawan is derived from the prehistoric word “madayaw,”
a warm and friendly greeting also used to explain a thing that is valuable, superior,
beautiful, good, or profitable, “Kadayawan” in Mandaya means anything that brings
fortune, a celebration of life, a thanksgiving for the gifts of nature, the wealth of culture,
the bounties of harvest and serenity of living. Ethnic tribes around Mt. Apo usually
gathered during the harvest-time when they had a bountiful harvest to give thanks to
their gods particularly the all-powerful Bathala (supreme God). According to legend, the
occasion is noticeable by happiness, singing, and dancing, as well as offerings to their
divine protectors.
The festival is celebrated in the month of August with floats of fresh flowers and fruits,
and indak-indak sa kadalanan or street dancing in colorful costumes. A variety of tribes
parade the streets with their tribal costumes and jewelry. The city of Davao comes alive
every year in August when it holds it yearly harvest festival. The streets are adorned
with local fruit & vegetables while people hold street dances with abandon for four days.
The harbor is the venue for native & power boat races. Everybody fights for seats to
watch the Horse Fighting wherein stallions fight each other over the rights to mate with
a mare. The crowd is sometimes tracked by the horses if they get too close. The last
day the street is full of costumed dancers dancing to the local beat & decorated floats
with glamorous Mindanao girls as eye candy. It’s a time of fun & abandon. The festivity
is not complete without the Bya’Neng ng Kadayawan or the Miss Kadayawan beauty
contest. There is also the horsefight, a tribal animal show similar to the bullfight in
Spain.
Non-religious festival

BANGUS FESTIVAL
The Bangus Festival is an annual celebration in the city of Dagupan. It
highlights the city’s rich milk fish aquaculture industry in the province of
Pangasinan and in the country.
The city of Dagupan is an independent component city created by virtue of
Republic Act No 170 signed by President Manuel Roxas on June 20, 1947.
The city’s name was derived from the local dialect word “pandaragupan”
meaning a gathering since the city has been for centuries the regional
market center in particular the Ilocos Region or Region 1.
Dagupan City is in north of Manila and are serviced by bus companies such
as Victory Liner, Dagupan Bus and the Five Star with a travel time of
approximately four (4) hours.
On the 3rd of May 2003, the populace of Dagupan City created an event as
part of the Bangus Festival, the longest grilled “bangus” street party
measuring 1,007.56 meters (3,305.6 feet). It broke Canchia’s, Peru 613
meters (2.011 feet long record set in November 1999. Hence, the city
gained the Guinness World Record of the longest barbecued grill
worldwide.
Alongside, cooking experts participated in the cooking festival of the milk
fish dishes such as sinigang, kilawen, daing and the local favorite pigar-
pigar to delight the taste of the local crowd as well as tourists. Through this
competition the “100 Ways to Cook Bangus” was reared, too.
To this day, a variety of restaurants serve the dishes in the area of Bonuan
– Tondaligan district fronting the beach of Lingayen Gulf. The succulent
taste of the milk fish in the city is due to the fact that it is raised in fish pen
within the salty water of Lingayen Gulf.
The milk fish (scientific name is Chano chanos) is of symmetrical
streamlined appearance, and a sizeable forked caudal fin generally feeding
on algae and invertebrates due to its absence of teeth. The usual size in
length ready for the market is fourteen (14) inches.