Watch Colorful Festivals in Zamboanga del Sur

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FESTIVALS IN ZAMBOANGA DEL SUR

Zamboanga del Sur is a province is a land known for its rich heritage, majestic natural attractions, and colourful festivals that showcase the uniqueness of its friendly, industrious people and its vibrant, colourful culture. These festivals are celebrated throughout the year, featuring lots of dancing, parades, feasts, and competitions, with people from all over the country being invited to join in the merriment. Read more: https://www.vigattintourism.com/tourism/articles/The-Great-Festivals-of-Zamboanga-Del-Sur

Summer Youth Festival

Photo from: https://greedypeg.org/zamboanga-del-sur/Summer-Youth-Festival.html

The Summer Youth Festival is celebrated from April 4 to 21 It is a major festival in the province of Zamboanga del Sur. It has two main features: the summer art lectures and workshops that are open to youth, workshops in dance, music, theater, visual arts and new media, and the sports clinics for various athletic disciplines also targeted to the youth.

Megayon Festival

Photo from: https://filipinohomes.com/blog/pagadian-city-festivals/

The Megayon Festival is a week-long gathering held in September to celebrate the unity among the three settlers that contribute to the founding of Zamboanga del Sur: the Subanons (or Subanens), the Muslims, and the local settlers (megayon is a Subanen word for “unity”). The festival is also held to celebrate the founding of Zamboanga del Sur and, to a lesser extent, the rich harvest of crops. Because of these reasons, the Megayen Festival is considered as Zamboanga del Sur’s official festival.

Originally started in 2001, the festival highlights the cultural diversity of the three groups of people that populate Zamboanga del Sur. Main staples of the celebration include the unique cultural dances of each group. Traditional costumes as well as arts and crafts are also usually proudly displayed, which shows off the diversity of each settler group. Read More: http://www.zamboangadelsur.com/megayon-festival

Palad-Palad Festival

Photo from: https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/youscoop/inside-scoop/image/2696/

The Municipality of Bayog, Province of Zamboanga del Sur celebrated the Palad-Palad Festival in commemoration of its 46th Founding Anniversary yesterday, April 9, 2013. Palad-Palad is a Subanen term which means “thanksgiving.” It is a celebration of joy, peace and unity and thanksgiving for great and bountiful harvest, progress and developments and people’s achievement. A street dancing competition at the Municipal Park opened the said celebration. Winners of the contest were awarded with cash prizes. Read More: https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/youscoop/inside-scoop/image/2696/

Pasalamat Festival

Photo from: http://zambopenjournal.blogspot.com/2014/01/pagadian-city-sets-week-long-pasalamat.html

Pagadian City celebrates its fiesta every third Sunday of January in honor of its patron saint, Sto. Niño (the Holy Child Jesus). It is officially named Pasalamat Festival, and it coincides with Cebu City’s Sinulog Festival.

Pasalamat Festival is highlighted with a fluvial parade (regatta), trade exhibits, the Mutya ng Pagadian beauty pageant, carnival shows as well as a civic military parade.

Araw ng Pagadian Festival

Photo from: https://filipinohomes.com/blog/pagadian-city-festivals/

Pagadianons celebrate the Araw ng Pagadian every June 21 in commemoration of its founding as a chartered city. It is a week-long celebration highlighted by a sports fest, banner raising ceremony, trade fairs, Miss Pagadian beauty contest, and other activities. An anniversary program at the city hall concludes the celebration every 21st of June. Read More: https://filipinohomes.com/blog/pagadian-city-festivals/

Zamboanga del Sur Anniversary

Photo from: http://piazampenpics.blogspot.com/2012/09/zamboanga-del-sur-anniversary-program.html

Chinese New Year

Photo from: http://pagadianfrontline.blogspot.com/2014/02/lgu-pagadian-joined-chinese-new-year.html

Pagadian City also officially celebrates the Chinese New Year. This was initiated by then Mayor Samuel S. Co who assumed office in 2004. It honors the local Chinese community which had contributed significantly to the local economy. Read More: https://filipinohomes.com/blog/pagadian-city-festivals/

Buklog Festival

Photo from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kH0VLwSRnxA

The Buklog is one of the religious rituals and ceremonies held in Zamboanga del Sur by the Subanens, a group that derives its name from suba (river) because of a preference to settle near rivers and mountain streams.

For centuries, the Subanen have held staunchly to this ancient ritual to honor the spirits, particularly the malengma (spirit of the waters), mamanwa (spirit of the forest), and manising palingkitan (spirits of the mountain), on which they rely for an abundant harvest and protection from misfortune. This is held regularly to reaffirmed the community’s profound gratitude for the continuous blessings.

The Buklog, which also stands for ceremonial platform, is a thanksgiving festival of the Subanen. The buklog is erected using eight sturdy tanguile and white lauan trunks as foundation. It stands eight to 10 feet high using wooden trunks 10 to 18 feet long. With the foundation in place, the workers place wood trunks side by side to form a platform. They worked one or two chanting prayers as they haul one trunk after another. The chanting is performed to ward off evil spirits. The platform has to be strong enough to bear the weight of the festival’s participants but at the same time pliable to move up and down without breaking. In the middle of the platform, a pole is inserted and set right above a hollow log three meters long, which is laid horizontally on the ground beneath the structure. The intention is for the pole to strike the log and produce a resonating sound. Read More: http://vismintrivia.blogspot.com/2006/10/buklog-festival.html

Badak Festival

Photo from: https://mobile.facebook.com/Badak-Festival-Management-Team-125713854681680/

The Adlaw sa Aurora is a communal celebration involving carefully planned programs outpouring of respect, rejoicing or high revelry, handled by the Local Government unit in cooperation with the eight (8) various organizations in the municipality as the sponsoring groups. The celebration differs from religious festivals in that the focus is not on the significance of the rituals of holy days of a particular faith but on the public honoring of outstanding persons, the commemoration of important historical or cultural events that marked the humble but cherished beginnings of AURORA.

The festivals of many ethnics groups are credited with the preservation of unique customs, folktales, costumes and culinary skills. An interesting recent development was the merging of the arts, lore and custom of the tri-peoples of Aurora, Zamboanga del Sur in the cultural festival known as “BADAK”. Read More: https://aurorazds.weebly.com/tourism.html

Hermosa Festival

Photo from: https://www.lakadpilipinas.com/2018/10/zamboanga-hermosa-festival.html

A grand burst of color, life and faith — that’s the Zamboanga Hermosa Festival.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with this event, Zamboanga Hermosa Festival is a month-long celebration honoring Nuestra Senora la Virgen del Pilar (Our Lady of Pillar). It is held in Zamboanga City in the province of Zamboanga del Sur every October. The locals of the city — Christians, Muslims and Lumads gather to participate in various activities including food fests, fashion & music shows and street dancing.

Local and foreign tourists visit Zamboanga City to witness this event, and I’m one of the lucky ones to be invited here as well! As such, I’m delighted to write about the highlights we’d witness during our 5 days visit to see the Zamboanga Hermosa Festival. Read More: https://www.taraletsanywhere.com/zamboanga-hermosa-festival-2018/

Kutsitsa Festival

The Kutsitsa Festival of Molave, Zamboanga del Sur, celebrated on April 26, is a thanksgiving for a bountiful harvest. The dance steps depict various stages of a harvest followed by steps depicting peace, unity, and love among people. The event includes a street dancing competition and an agro-industrial fair.

Mandala Festival

The Mandala Festival is celebrated in Midsalip, Zamboanga del Sur every September 9. It aims to preserve the local Subanen tradition of Midasalip. Mandala is a Subanen term which means harvest. A thanksgiving rite is offered to the gods for the abundant yield and as a tribute to the original inhabitants, the culture and traditions of the Subanens.

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