In the middle of the rich mix of folklore, superstition, mythology, and religion in the Philippines – where one is taken for the other,

interchangeable, if you may – there is a constant annual calendar of fiestas, or feasts, to celebrate the parthenon of patron

saints and the different manifestations of Mother Mary that have made itself part not only of officially sanctioned events by the

Catholic Church (days of obligation), but also of the cultural fabric of the country and its different regions. The feasts also make

pageants and celebrations of rain dances, thanksgiving for good harvests, and also moments in the country’s history.

Fiestas in the Philippines are held to celebrate a patron saint (the Philippines is the only majority-Christian country

in Southeast Asia) or to mark the passage of the seasons, depending on which part of the country you're in.

The sole exception is Christmas, where the whole country breaks out in celebrations that can begin long before December.

The roots of Philippine fiestas go back even further - back to before the Spanish conquistadores arrived in the 1500s.

In the old animistic culture, regular ritual offerings were made to placate the gods, and these offerings evolved into the

fiestas we know today. A wonderful fiesta season means good luck for the rest of the year.

For individual Filipinos, fiestas can be a way of supplicating the heavens or to make amends for past wrongs.

In one place, penitents lash themselves with whips; in another, childless women dance on the streets hoping
for the blessing of a child.

Every town and city in the Philippines has a fiesta of its own; whatever time of the year it is, there's sure to be a

fiesta going on somewhere!

PAELLA VERDE-THE STARS OF THE FILIPINO FEAST

Be ready to put on a few extra pounds as you satisfy your cravings by indulging in a Filipino feast. Dishes to try:

Lechon, spit-roast whole pig served with liver sauce; Adobo, pork, chicken or a combination of both, marinated

in vinegar, soy sauce and garlic and stewed until tender; Kare-kare, meat and vegetables cooked with peanut

sauce served with shrimp paste; Sinigang, pork, or seafood in tamarind soup; or the freshest seafoods— fish,

squid, shrimp, lobsters— grilled to perfection. The more adventurous should try Balut or boiled duck eggs

containing a partially formed embryo, and Dinuguan, the pork blood stew eaten with steamed rice or Puto,

rice cakes. All around the country, there are restaurants offering different cuisines from American to Chinese,

from Indian to Greek, from Japanese to French.

HOLIDAY FEAST

PORK BARBECUE

The fiesta is part and bundle of Filipino culture. Through good times and bad times, the fiesta must go on. Each city and barrio

has at least one local festival of its own, usually on the feast of its patron saint, so that there is always a fiesta going on

somewhere in the country. But the major and most elaborate festival of all is Christmas, a season celebrated with all the

display and show the fun-loving Filipino can handle.