According to the town’s history, there were two theories on how the name Calaca, was derived. First, the word Kalaka meant fellow tribesmen. The term was then used by ancient Calaqueños to greet each other. The traditional salutation was passed down from generation to generation until it became the official name of the town. Another account also tells that it was derived from laka which means a bamboo split into two . (calaca.gov.ph)

Calaca was officially recognized as a separate municipality from Balayan on May 10, 1835. It’s first gobernadorcillo was a certain Don Rufino Punongbayan.

The town folks of Calaca seemed like they had a fruitful celebration of CALACAtchara Festival 2010. CALACAtchara was derived from ‘Calaca’ and ‘atchara’ – the town’s main product. Atchara is made of pickled papaya, usually combined with carrot or bell pepper strips and raisins.

The festivities started on October 15 with the celebration of Caracol de San Raphael (Calaca’s patron saint).

It was a week-long celebration which concluded on Oct. 24, the town’s fiesta. The festive activities were made for everyone in Calaca as they had activities for both young and old. CALACAtchara Festival showed how these people work to make each and everyone happy