The fiesta fever continues

As it is traditional for most families to bring their families out of town during summer holidays, the country is deluged by visitors from everywhere, including foreign tourists from cold countries, who find in the Filipino brand of festival or fiesta an added attraction to look forward to.

We have already written about the fiesta we attended some weeks back in Liliw, Laguna called The Liliw Gat Tayaw Tsinelas Festival. We also caught a glimpse of one fiesta that had just finished, and another that was to be launched soon.

On our way to Liliw, we passed by Nagcarlan where the century-old Nagcarlan Underground Cemetery can be found. An important example of Baroque Spanish colonial architecture, it was built in 1845 by the Franciscan Friar Vicente Velloc. Its grounds are enclosed by wrought-iron grills and stonework walls with an arched gate leading to a chapel and a crypt two flights down.

During the Revolution of 1896, the crypt was used as a secret hideout; and during World War II, it became a safe house for guerillas. Today, the partially restored Nagcarlan Cemetery has been acknowledged as a National Historical Shrine, the only one in the Philippines. The place is open to the public from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Tuesdays to Saturdays. For details, call 524-9952.

Also in Nagcarlan, our attention was caught by giant statues called kalang-kalang and replicas of the frontage of structures known as arko on display all around the Municipal Hall compound. They are all crafted from indigenous materials and when organizers were searching for a name for their celebration, the unanimous choice was Ana Kalang Festival after the kalang-kalang giants.

A favorite festival of many starts every 15th of May in Lucban, Quezon Province called the Pahiyas Festival honoring the patron saint of farmers, San Isidro Labrador, during which houses are decorated with fruits, vegetables, agricultural products, handicrafts and kiping made out of rice. The houses are judged and the best one is proclaimed the winner.

The Lukayuan Festival is a small celebration conducted by the residents by Brgy. Ibabang Sungi in Liliw, Laguna every May 17, in honor of San Pascual Baylon. According to our source, this practice began in the early 1900s when Sta. Elena was searching for the Cross on which Jesus had been crucified. She eventually found it after a flood that terrorized the entire village. This started the ritual known as dalit (for a prayer group called magdadalit) and lukayuan (after lukayo or hiding one’s true identity).

Unlike other festivals, the celebration does not include a competition with prizes given to the best entry, but it is interesting in itself for the manner in which the participants walking around the village have dressed themselves and painted their faces in keeping with the ritual of hiding one’s identity.

Since Brgy. Ibabang Sungi belongs to the mother town of Liliw, Laguna, some residents of the barangay thought of bringing the Lukayuan Festival to Liliw itself. Barangay resident Myrasol Honrade of Ibabang Sungi said the festival was launched three years ago during the 11th Liliw Gat Tayaw Tsinelas Festival. This year, the event was one of the main attractions of the Tsinelas Festival. We can only expect that the involvement of more magdadalits and lukayos would bring more and more interest to this small celebration with an old history.

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