By It’s February! Here are the Philippine agricultural festivals to look forward to for this month.
Kagang Festival | Dapitan City, Zamboanga
Kagang, or mud crab, celebrated by the locals of Dapitan City at the Kagang Festival. (Bhny / Wikimedia)
Dapitan City’s Kagang Festival started way back in February 2014 and has been celebrated annually ever since. Kagang is a crab species that can live on dry land. It is common to seven coastal barangays of Dapitan, some of which are Taguillon, Banbanan, Carang and Baylimango.
During the festival, the City holds a cookfest which features the traditional way of cooking kagang as well as other seafood delicacies. Visitors get to experience an unforgettable seafood festival.
The festival was organized to revive interest in local seafood and to preserve authentic and traditional flavorful dishes where kagang is the main ingredient.
Budbod Kabog Festival | Catmon, Cebu
February 10
Budbod Kabog Festival street dance at Catmon, Cebu. (Municipality of Catmon, Cebu / Facebook)
Budbod kabog is Catmon, Cebu’s local name for suman. The people of this town hold a festival every 10th of February not just to celebrate budbod kabog, but to honor their patron saint San Guillermo de Aquitania.
The highlight of this festival is the Budbod Kabog Dance Showdown, where contestants perform a dance incorporating the eight steps of processing and preparing budbod kabog. The steps are kabhig (planting,) bugaw (driving away birds), kayo (harvesting with a sickle), gi-ok (separating grain from stalk), asod (seed pounding), alig-ig (final separation of grain from shell), pasiko (mixing of ingredients) and kilikiti (wrapping of budbod kabog).
Other grand festivities are the Search for the Festival Queen, the Sadsaran (street dancing), and the Grand Patikim food festival which features the local delicacies of Catmon.
Tinagba Festival | Iriga, Camarines Sur
February 11
Street dance performance at Tinagba Festival, Iriga City. (Tinagba Festival / Facebook)
The Tinagba Festival of Iriga City is a secular event reenacting an old ritual of the earliest Bicolanos offering the best produce of the land. This offering was not just done to show gratitude, but also to ensure prosperity.
Throughout the years, the festival has evolved to include a colorful parade of decorated bull carts and motorized floats, as well street dancing, pageants and even sport competitions.
Karanowan Fish-Tival | Balo, Camarines Sur
February 15
Karanowan Fish-tival street dance at Balo, Camarines Sur. (Karanowan Festival / Facebook)
The Karanowan Fish-tival is held in appreciation of nature and its beauty. The city of Balo hopes to instill the value of preserving and protecting natural resources as major sources of food and potential tourist attractions.
The name of the festival was derived from a word from their local dialect, “ranow.” Ranow, meaning lake, highlights the beauty of the nearby Lake Bato and its abundance of tilapia, carp, eel and more.
Pahimis Festival | Amadeo, Cavite
February 22-24
The official poster of the Pahimis Festival in Amadeo. (Municipality of Amadeo / Facebook)
Amadeo’s Pahimis Festival is an annual festival celebrating coffee. “Pahimis” is the old Amadeo word for “giving thanks.” The tradition of this festival is for local coffee farmers to give away their last can of harvest as thanksgiving and good luck for a future abundant harvest.
The festival presents coffee tasting and giveaways, traditional street dancing, farm tours, the Coffee Trade Expo and the Amadeo Garden Show.
The festival seeks to boost the Amadeo’s thriving coffee industry and to position the municipality as one of the promising havens of investment in terms of agri-business and eco-tourism.
Kali-kalihan Festival | Salvador Benedicto, Negros Occidental
Second week of February
Costumed street dancer at the Kali-kalihan Festival. (Don Benedicto Salvador / Facebook)
The Kali-kalihan Festival is a harvest festival celebrated by the Municipality of Don Salvador Benedicto. It’s a week-long celebration showcasing the diverse traditional and cultural heritage of the Negrenses.
The festival holds street dance parades, pageants and other cultural presentations. It is said that the costumes worn by the dancers are usually made from natural materials grown in the area. The city has also adopted the art of kali, or arnis, as their cultural heritage and holds a performance demonstrating its martial arts movements.
Sampaguita Festival | San Pedro, Laguna
Second week of February
Street dance at the San Pedro, Laguna’s Sampaguita Festival (San Pedro City Public Affairs and Information Office / Facebook)
The Sampaguita Festival is a week-long affair in San Pedro, Laguna. It was formerly known as the “Manok ni San Pedro Festival” from 1999 to 2002, before it was renamed to the “Sampaguita Festival” in tribute to San Pedro’s being known as the Sampaguita Capital of the Philippines. In 2009, San Pedro held the world record for the longest sampaguita line spanning almost 3.6 kilometers.
The festival holds a mix of cultural and modern activities, such as trade fairs, singing competitions, parades, street dances, sport exhibitions, and, the event locals look forward to the most, the coronation night of the “Hiyas ng San Pedro”.
The festival aims to promote tourism in San Pedro and to revitalize the sampaguita industry in the community.
MaHaGuYog Festival | Sto. Tomas, Batangas
Second week of February
MaHaGuYog Festival street dance (The City of Sto.Tomas, Batangas / Facebook)
The name MaHaGuYog is a combination of mais, halaman, gulay, and niyog, the four agricultural stars of the Municipality of Sto. Tomas. The festival begins every last Saturday of February and spans a whole week.
The festival is not only a harvest festival but is also a prelude to the feast day of St. Thomas of Aquinas, the town’s patron saint. Locals hold a celebration as thanksgiving for a bountiful harvest.
The week-long celebration the MaHaGuYog Festival is filled with street parades, pageants, food festivals and more.
Itik-Itik Festival | Brgy. Kalawaan, Pasig
Last week of February
Itik, the celebrated duck of Brgy. Kalawaan’s Itik-itik Festival. (DOST-PCAARRD)
Barangay Kalawaan celebrates its Itik-itik Festival every last week of February. Locals celebrate the itik, or native duck, with a week-long’s worth of activities. Barangay Kalawaan gives tribute to Saint Martha, the patroness, and holds the festival as a thanksgiving festivity for hearing their pleas.
There are many traditional festival activities, however, the highlight are the dances incorporating steps that emulate the celebrated duck.
Nangkaan Festival | Maigo, Lanao del Norte
February 27
Nangkaan Festival street dance at the Municipality of Maigo. (Discover Lanao del Norte PH / Facebook)
The Nangkaan Festival of Maigo celebrates the abundance of langka, or jackfruit, in the region. It was first held in 2008 and was launched just in time for the town’s founding anniversary. It also coincides with Maigo’s Tourism Week which is annually held around the last week of February.
Nangka is the local word for langka, and the town is proud to celebrate the king of fruits as one of its top agricultural produce.
The festival’s activities may span a number of days and usually holds street dance competitions, the search for Miss Maigo, cultural shows and trade fairs highlighting langka and other products of the municipality.
Panagbenga Festival | Baguio, Benguet
Month-long
A happy costumed street dancer of the Panagbenga Festival. (Ranieljosecastaneda / Wikimedia)
Panagbenga is probably the most popular February festival in the Philippines. It is the annual flower festival celebrated in Baguio City.
“Panagbenga” comes from a Kankanaey term meaning “season of blooming.” During this month, the festival highlights the history, traditions, and values of the Cordilleras. It lasts the whole month of February and occasionally reaches the beginning of March.
The Panagbenga Festival is known for its colorful floral parade and energetic street dances. After the parades, one section of Session Road is closed for other festivities such as concerts, competitions, food booths, and more.
