Posts Tagged ‘what to do in the Philippines’

Try Your Luck in the Sorteo (Lottery) Festival in Cavite

SORTEO FESTIVAL

Photo from: flickr.com/photos/24524372@N07/4375035498

Sorteo was first done in the town in 1861 or four years after Carmona, then called Barrio Latag, was separated from its mother town of Silang on February 20, 1857, through a decree approved by the Spanish monarch.

Photo from: carmonagov.net

Photo from: danggandangcavite-bcs31-2010.blogspot.com

Since then the twon of Carmona in Cavite has been celebrating its founding anniversary with the traditional week-long Sorteo (Lottery) Festival. The festival is one of a kind in the country, if not in Asia.

Photo from: carmonagov.net

Sorteo is a Spanish word which means raffle or draw. The original event gave qualified town folk a chance to win the right to cultivate farmlands rent-free for three years.

Photo from: paolodome.co.cc

Photo from: carmonagov.net

The festival’s highlight is the three-day and four-night “Sorteo ng Bukid ng Bayan” (Lottery of Town Land Parcels) where 109 land parcels will be given to raffle winners who will return the land to the local government after three years so that others may have a chance to get the farm lot, also through draws, and earn from it.

Photo from: wowcavite.com

The festival usually starts Tuesday morning with the “Ani ng Kinabukasan” (Harvest of the Future) event, parade of floats and dances and band-playing, among others, at the town hall area.

Photo from: flickr.com/photos/77881272@N04/6984370355