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The Ibalong Festival is a non-religious festival in Legazpi City, Albay, Philippines based on the Ibalong Epic, and is held in August. The festival celebrates the epic story Ibalong who was accompanied by three legendary heroes, namely Baltog, Handyong, and Bantong. People parade in the streets wearing masks and costumes to imitate the appearances of the heroes and the villains, portraying the classic battles that made their way into the history of Bicol. The Ibalong Festival aims to express warmth and goodwill to all people; visitors and tourists are encouraged to celebrate with the Bicolanos. The Ibalong Festival is also known as the Ibalon Festival. Read More: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibalong_Festival
Photo from: https://www.lakadpilipinas.com/2012/08/postcards-albays-ibalong-festival.html
Ibalong Festival is a yearly non-religious fiesta depicting here Bicol’s early beginnings based on the Ibalong Epic written by the late Prof. Merito Espinas that tells of mythical super heroes, villains, monsters and wild animals in the ancient times. First celebrated in 1992, the celebration — which relives the epic featuring the extraordinary feats of strength, courage and heroism of these ancient heroes — has since then lived to become the longest running tourism promotion-related festival in the Bicol Region that expresses warmth and goodwill to all people and encourages visitors and tourists to celebrate with the Legazpeños. Read More: http://legazpi.gov.ph/legazpis-24th-ibalong-festival-opens-aug-8/
IBALONG FESTIVAL
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The Ibalong Festival is a week long series of festivities celebrated from October 25 to 31 every year. The festival’s name is derived from one of the province’s foremost epic, the ‘Ibalong’ which detailed the myths and legends of the region long before the colonizers came. Apart from commemorating a cultural landmark, the Ibalong Festival is also a celebration of the province’s people and their resiliency, given the string calamities that regularly befall the region given its typhoon-prone geographical location.
Like most fiestas in the country, the main event of Ibalong Festival is its choreographed dances performed in the streets of Legazpi City. Such performances depict the numerous myths and legends contained in the Ibalong epic of the province and are done with the majestic visage of the Mayon Volcano, with its perfect cone, as their backdrop. The street dances are commonly performed by students from high schools throughout Albay and some times even from those outside of the province are invited to participate in the street dance which also doubles as a contest. Read more: https://saminovic.wordpress.com/2010/10/26/ibalong-festival-of-albay-legaspi/
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Albay – Home Of Perfect-Cone Mayon Volcano
Interesting Spots to See in Albay