Filipinos love to celebrate, whether on the beach, the street, the mountainside or the metropolis. Indeed, Philippine culture is filled with color, as seen in great parties and festivals happening in different parts of the country.
If you plan to visit the Philippines between January to March, you may want to check out at least any one of the popular festivities of the country for a more memorable stay.
Sinulog Festival
The historical and religious celebration called the Sinulog Festival happens in Cebu City, Cebu every third Sunday of January in honor of the Santo Nino. It is often described as one of the craziest and most colorful fiestas in the country.
People are seen out in the streets for an intense nine-day party highlighted by a street parade with participants in bright-colored costumes — drinking, throwing paint around and dancing to the rhythm of drums, trumpets and native gongs. This popular celebration also showcases a variety of art competitions featuring contingents from different parts of the country.
Hot Air Balloon Festival
The Hot Air Balloon Festival is an annual event happening in the Clark Air Field in Pampanga between January to February.
Considered the biggest aviation sports event in the Philippines, this three-to-four-day festival features a variety of activities highlighted by the multicolored hot air balloons manned by hundreds of balloon pilots from around the world. It also hosts activities such as skydiving, flag jumps, remote-control airplane and helicopter flying exhibitions, light airplane balloon bursting, micro light and rocketry demos, kite-making and choreographed kite-flying, ultra-light flying formation and bomb dropping events, and freestyle acrobatics.
Panagbenga Festival
The Panagbenga Festival is a month-long annual flower festival in Baguio, which is also known as the Summer Capital of the Philippines. It celebrates the season of blossoming of flowers during the month of February. The festival was created to pay tribute to the city’s recovery from the devastation of a tragic earthquake that hit the province in the 1990s.
The festival showcases a number of floats that are artfully decorated with flowers, as well as the street dancing of people clad in flower-inspired costumes.
Malasimbo Music and Arts Festival
The Malasimbo Music and Arts Festival happens within February and March in Puerto Galera in the island of Mindoro. Considered a pioneering international music and arts festival in the Asia-Pacific region, this yearly event situated on the foot of Mount Malasimbo primarily serves as a unique eco-cultural program celebrating Filipino music and culture.
Set among the palm-lined hills of the island with the majestic mountain as backdrop, the festival grounds form a prominent grass-terraced amphitheater. Festival goers can also enjoy the beautiful sight of the tranquil, azure bay that overlooks the island.