Lucban is a town nestled in the foothills of Mount Banahaw. It is noted for its colorful festival during May 15 called the Pahiyas Festival. This festival is dedicated to Saint Isidore the Laborer (San Isidro de Labrador), the patron saint of farmers. It is noted for its colorful decorated houses made of fruits, vegetables and even grains, especially the vibrant leaf-shaped chandeliers made up of rice paste called kiping. The festival serves as a thanksgiving to their patron saint for the bountiful harvest of crops in their town.
This year, my friends and I decided to visit Lucban for the annual Pahiyas Festival. We rode a bus going to Lucena City from Calamba. After one hour, we decided to go down in a diversion road going to Tayabas City via riding a tricycle to our first stop - Kamay ni Hesus. We spend our time here by climbing the hill and praying at the hilltop for blessings and guidance. We took our lunch in the eateries in the area,
After our lunch, we went to the town proper for the Pahiyas Festival. As usual, several local and foreign tourists flocked for the celebration of festival and to see the vibrant decorated houses in the town proper. I had the chance to visit houses and took photos with my friends in order to appreciate the creativity and hard work of the Lucbanins for the preparation of this colorful festival.
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| Tourists are roaming around the town to see the beautiful and vibrant houses decorated with vegetables, fruits and grains. |
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| Welcome to Lucban! |
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| A house made up of palay grains and kiping which proves that the town has a lot of rice fields. |
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| A colorful house with decorations made up of coconut shells and a sunflower made up of bananas. |
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| This house represents the bountiful harvest and the rich agriculture industry of Lucban, Quezon. |
The decorated houses and exciting sights and sounds of the streets proved that Pahiyas Festival is an event that you cannot miss especially if you are traveling around the Philippines. The houses are decorated with tons of effort and it was a sign that the agricultural town has a bountiful harvest every year. There are different decorations such as chandeliers made up of fruits and kiping,characters made up of vegetables and colorful ceilings, fences and walls made up of leaves, hay and grains. The lively music, street dance and the lights of the houses in the evening are also interesting to see in the festival.
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| A colorful chandelier made up of pineapples and kiping. |
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| A windows with raddish as borders served with green bananas, papaya and tomatoes. |
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| The images of Lucban Church, Ascending Christ in Kamay ni Hesus, Saint Isidore the Laborer and the natives of Lucban with the different agricultural products. |
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| Higantes in Pahiyas. It is very amusing that this house expressed the concept of Higantes in Pahiyas. |
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| The kids and parents are having a photo opp with Stuart the Minion and Spongebob Squarepants. |
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| Animals made up of hay with bread. |
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| Lively street music |
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| These cute veggies are looking to somewhere which expressed that they are thankful to the bountiful harvest. |
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| One veggie was hanging on the tree, getting some coconuts while a line of veggies doing the bayanihan where they are bringing cocnuts hung in the bamboo pole. |
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| Another line of veggies bringing coconuts hanging in the pole and the other one was climbing on the coconut tree. |
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| In the heat of the sun, these veggies are grating coconuts. |
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| A mother veggie showing love to her child in a nipa hut. |
This festival is truly Filipino. It shows that Lucbanins are truly creative in terms of decorating houses and improvising stuff to make the tourists enjoy the festival. In addition, it is a way for some Filipinos to give thanks to the Lord for the great economic activity which is agriculture that serves as a source of income to the natives of Lucban. They are also grateful to the patron saint of farmers, Saint Isidore the Laborer and the natural resources in the small town of Lucban. Nowadays, Lucban is known for its Pahiyas Festival, the healing shrine Kamay ni Hesus and the peaceful ambiance and the clean and green nature of the town as well with the warm-hearted hospitality of the Lucbanins.
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Date of Travel: May 15, 2015
Pahiyas Festival is one of the most colorful and festive celebrations in the country. It's really nice to experience at Lucban area.
ReplyDeletei have covered so many festivals already, but this one i miss...I should experience this colorful event in the nearest future :)
ReplyDeleteI love Pahiyas' colorful displays! I can imagine how much effort they put into this festival.
ReplyDeleteWow, I've never been to the Pahiyas Festival before. I'd love to go this year with my family.
ReplyDelete