Harvest festivals are celebrated by different cultures all over the world primarily to give thanks to their gods for a fruitful harvest. The Philippines being an agricultural country has its own share of a colorful and grand harvest feast , perhaps the most famous dates back to the 16th century and held annually in Lucban, Quezon, known as Pahiyas Festival. It is a testament to the Hispanic colonial influence on Filipino culture.
Pahiyas Festival is more of a religious celebration in honor of San Isidro Labrador (Isidore the Farmer), the Catholic patron saint of peasants and day laborers.
Every 15th of May, houses in the municipality are clothed with agricultural produce such as vegetables, fruits, rice grains, palm hats, flowers, ferns, paper mache and colorful rice wafers known as kiping. It should be noted that this is only one of the many celebrations in the Philippines for the patron saint, there’s one in Aklan, Nueva Ecija, Marinduque and Bulacan.
San Isidro Labrador
To evade traffic, I hopped in an ordinary bus bound to Lucena (special thanks to Ferdz Decena for the info on this route) on a Saturday afternoon, a day before the bountiful festival. I texted a fellow blogger Atty.Mhe-anne who will be couch surfing in a house of a new found friend in Calaguas, Issa Collantes. It was a 4 hour bus ride but the palm trees dancing against the pinkish sky provided a much needed warmth and fondness. The atmosphere along the road makes me crave more to revisit the simple life in our province.
It was already dusk when I arrived in Lucena Grand Terminal, so I asked around for a jeepney going to Lucban (Php 30/ USD 70) . Good thing I was able to catch the last trip but I was starving so I grab some siomai and ran back to the jeep before I get left behind. It was an easy 45 minute ride, no traffic yet, I should say I was lucky!
But when I arrived in Lucban, my friend is still enjoying their long drive around the province of Laguna, so although I’m restless because I haven’t slept for 24 hours, I had to maximize my time. Otherwise, I can secure a bench to nap near the church. Sleeping in public places is becoming a habit lately, though it is synonymous with adventure, I must admit I am starting to pity myself.
I was greeted by throngs of crowd of young people preparing for the feast the next days. Hats made of native materials of all colors and styles adorn the sidewalk, that if it weren’t for the old colonial Spanish houses and the smell of Lucban’s longganisa permeating my nostrils, I’d probably think I’m in Britain looking for a Royal hat that I could wear on my engagement with Prince Harry.
After eating dinner at a barbecue stand beside the main road, I followed the crowd going to the plaza. The streets are adorned with trimmings for the upcoming feast. This town reminds me of Liliw, Laguna with the heritage houses, shops and all. I went inside almost every shop, checking the goods and the prices, pretty cheap and comparable to the prices in flea markets and tiangge in Manila. I particularly like the posh royal and summer hats (retail price starts at Php 50/USD 1.16) and the stylish flat shoes of all colors and designs (retail price starts at Php 100-Php230/USD2.32-5.33).
I went around and found some souvenirs for sales, the artsy masks (Php 80 up/USD 1.85), the epic ref magnets (Php20 up/USD 0.46) and key chains (Php 10 up/USD 0.23). I love the colorful and artsy designs of the items, even the quality of the souvenir shirts (Php 130 up/USD 3.01) looks good.
how to make ref magnets
I went around and found some souvenirs for sales, the artsy masks (Php 80 up/USD 1.85), the epic ref magnets (Php20 up/USD 0.46) and key chains (Php 10 up/USD 0.23). I love the colorful and artsy designs of the items, even the quality of the souvenir shirts (Php 130 up/USD 3.01) looks good.
In the midst of the crowd I stumbled on an art shop selling products from all over Asia, bought a scarf from India for Php300 (USD 6.95), it looks like my Bohemian skirt from Nepal, with all those handwoven small mirrors in the quilted-like cloth. One of the things I love doing whenever I travel is hunting for bargain shops, flea markets , vintage and art shops with unique artsy stuff and memorabilia and it’s nice to accidentally find one in Lucban.
Lucban, a sleepy town, transforms into a crowded and lively tourist destination during the world-known Pahiyas Festival. Strolling around the municipality before the harvest feast, gives one a glimpse into the lives of the local and the preparation for the grand celebration.
Like any other typical fiesta in the Philippine setting, men and women are seen busy preparing for the feast and entertaining their guests, mostly relatives and friends arriving from another province.
Upon roaming around the town center, I noticed that the men and children mostly takes care of the decorations of houses while the women are busy cooking or entertaining their guests, and most teenagers are either on a drinking session or at the plaza for the rock show. Whoever said there’s not much people prior to the festival is dead wrong but yeah, “lesser” compared to the day of the event itself.
Legend has it that the municipality of Lucban in Quezon province whose situated at the foot of Mt. Banahaw derived it’s name from pomelo (Citrus maxima or Citrus grandis). Surprisingly, the citrus fruits is not the signature food or delicacy of Lucban but it is Pansit Habhab, Longganisang Lucban and kiping.
Pansit is the local term for noodles in Filipino cuisine and it has many variants. Pansit habhab (also known as pansit Lucban) is a noodles mixed with vegetables and vinegar is added before serving.
cooked pansit habhab
The name habhab is said to have originated from the way the pansit is eaten – without a fork and spoon (kamayan) picking the food with your hand and directly putting it to your mouth when eating.
a store selling uncooked pansit habhab in packs
Pansit habhab are sold in packs at the stores in Lucban for Php 40 (USD 0.93) and the cooked ones were being offered at the sidewalks during the feast for Php 10 (USD 0.23). My tastebud favored Pansit Habhab than Longganisang Lucban.
Longganisa is the Filipino term for sausage. Unlike the typical sausages though, Longganisang Lucban is smaller with longer shelf-life and is self-contained since you don’t need oil to cook it. It is flat, sour and garlicky compared to the usual sweet and oily sausages we buy at the supermarket. They’re seen hanging, tied in the bamboo poles during the feast and retails at Php 70 up (USD 1.62 up). At dusk, I chanced up some locals who are preparing the famous longganisa outside the streets.
Lucban is also famous for it’s sweet delicacies: broas, torones, apas, etc. – the usual pasalubong (Filipino term for goodies brought home from a visit to another place usually tourist destination). And of course, there’s the famous decor during Pahiyas Festival – kiping.
I didn’t know that you can actually eat kiping. All the while I thought they’re just colorful Japanese papers cut into the shape of leaves. Kiping is a leaf-shaped wafer made of rice paste. Mature leaves are collected and laon rice is used to prevent cracking of the rice wafer.
It was getting late and my friend is still roaming around somewhere, I went looking for the church and found a lighted hut with some weary tourists. I secured a place to rest or sleep if ever my friend won’t find me. But alas, when I am about to close my eyes, the loud voice of the tanod surprised me and awakened some people taking a nap! “Bawal matulog dito! (Sleeping is not allowed here!) “, he shouted and closed the lights. Errr! If there’s one thing I don’t like about my experience in Lucban is staying in that church garden. I wish the church people could’ve opened there doors for weary tourists at least for that night. I bet the poor San Isidro wouldn’t be happy about it. I’ve seen a couple of tourists rest and take a nap in the church garden, but the guards kept shouting and displaying their old guns and sticks like they rule the world. I even entered the church and had my photo taken on the miniature church with all the lights and kipings and the lady manning the church kept asking me as if shoving me away. “Sino bang inaantay mu? ” , and then shouting to the other tourists, “sarado na jan wala ng daan!”
As soon as a truck loaded with chairs entered, I heard them talking in front of me, ” And dame pang tao, bahala sila, isarado naten na yan!”. How about those tourists who doesn’t have a place to stay, but we’re just too ecstatic to visit Lucban at dusk to evade traffic the next day? I bet it wouldn’t hurt for the church people to open their gates at least for one night for these people, besides, this is a celebration for the saint of peasants and day laborers.
So the tourists walked out of the church park as the powerful church people closed the gate. Good thing, my friend was already waiting for me outside the gate and introduced me to her friends who invited us to their house. In celebrating a religious feast in a town I barely know, I expected the church people to welcome poor people like me, but instead it’s the strangers who welcomed me warmly.
*conversion rate used*
1 Philippine peso = 0.023191 U.S. dollars
*Special thanks to: Issa Collantes and family for the accommodation and food, Atty. Mhe-anne Ojeda and friends, Zaide Uy, Sally Velasco, Bryan Colona and friends.
how i miss reading your blog gael! its always a pleasure to be reading your post. this is pahiyas on a different perspective.
if churches are open everywhere in the PH, i love to travel more.
sorry to hear about that situation sa guard, baka pagod narin sya or something.
if i may add, san isidro would have shouted to the guards and said, leave them alone. let them sleep inside the church. 🙂
yeah, I guess so too, sana they get paid them extra to keep the gates open for weary travelers, kahet sa bisperas man lng ng pista so they wouldn’t be grumpy or in a hurry. 😉
nice post and pictures! too bad lang what happened, but at least God is good for you met good samaritans. 🙂
Nice set… ganda ng mga kha mo. Hindi pa ako nakakapunta dyan sa Lucban. Kahit madalas ako sa Tayabas at Lucena Quezon. LOL
Wonderful photos! Your experience was bad at first (referring to the church people shooing tourists away from the church) but you still found good people out there that accommodated you.
i love galletas de patatas! kung andun ako pipitasin ko yung mga nakasabit. hehe. joke.
ayun! thanks! sumakit ulo ko kaiiisp ng pangalan nyan, nakalimutan ko na eh, hehe ang alam ko lng galletas. thnks for dropping by! =)
nice one gael..i really enjoyed the trip with you guys.. see you again for our next adventure lol
Very colorful festival. Natakam ako sa longganiza. 🙂
mukhang ngyn lang kita napansin na nagpost ganito karaming pics ah.photoblogging narin ito?lols
ero marami naman talagang magaganda pics kasi nag stay ku ng gabi–yun ang advice, if you plan to go to Pahiyas–be there the day before kasi hellish ang traffic.hehehe
I have not yet tried pancit habhab, ok ba siya? 🙂
Nice photos, sana mk-attend din ako ng gantong festivities 🙂
yup. masarap xa. mas gusto ko xa kesa sa longganisa. hehe
sana sinumbong mo sila kay mayor
So colorful. I would go crazy in this place – shooting at everything. I am so interested in the longganisa – mukhang masarap talaga.
Enjoy na enjoy ako dito sa post mong ito. Sna maka attend din ako khit minsan lang.
I will share this post to my FB string so people from where I am now would know how the pahiyas is celebrated. The place on where I am now has the same feast date, May 15, but did not even bothered to have a celebration like this one, like thanking the good patron for a bountiful harvest.:-).
Why the church is practicing in closing their gates to the people is just because of thieves who will take advantage during feast days.:-). We could not blame the church workers in doing that because of unpleasant incidents happened on churches as reported in the news before.:-). Ganyan daw yan ga-el, may sasalo talaga sa atin everywhere we go. Blessings daw yan ga-el.
I ain’t referring to the door of the church kuya but to the gate of the church. there’s a plaza garden outside the church kase, I ddnt see anything that could be stolen outside the church. =) it’s ok to close the church doors, that’s understandable, but the gates of the church during fiesta, sana they could at least open it for the tourists kahet s bisperas man lng. I;ve seen a lot of manong (mga kaeded ng tatay ko) w/ their backpacks and they look so tired at mamemyesta lng tlga sa Quezon napping there, I feel sorry for them when they were shoved away. there’s also a family there na kotse lng nila dala nila and they parked it sa my church and dun na sila sa park ng rest. kawawa yung mga bata. I hope they can be a little considerate naman. Pero yeah,. maybe nga they’re just tired (though it’s not an excuse) and they’re just doing there job. But I hope they would open it to the public next time, kung sa Panagbenga nga sa Baguio pede maglatag ng tent yung mga tao eh. hehe
sa amin ngang church. anytime gael mag park sa Our Lady of Fatima in Cagayan de Oro. Tama ka gael, they should not close the gate.:-).
Our church in Cagayan de Oro gael is wide open for any visitors to park their car. Tama ka, they shouldn’t close that gate especially on feast days.:-).
now I know… nakakain pala yung mga kiping ‘kala ko for decor lang… 🙂
Magkaiba pala tayo ng taste. Mas gusto ko naman ang longganisa kesa sa pancit habhab. I’ve learned as well na yung “kiping” pala e pareho ng “papais” ng Ilokos wich is usually served during All Saint’s day naman.
Ang galing, very colorful pictures you have here!
Gusto ko ulit pumunta ng Pahiyas Festival pero a day before na lang. Nakakaloka ang traffic at crowd during the actual festival!
Pero mas madaming cute during the festival. Hihihi.
Roby! I miss you! haha artistahin mga pose at acting mu! love it super! I hope to see you soon! =)
Parang nakakapagod naman yung nangyari sayu =)
Wow, sana makapunta din ako ng Pahiyas Festival…pero dahil sa kwento nyo Ms.Gail, parang nakapunta narin po ako…
Thanks po…
Pagdasal nalang po yung Tanod (baka may Buwanang dalaw..ehehe..)
Ms.Gail Malaki po ba yung Simbahan sa Lucban?…
yep, parang yung mga regular church lng sa Maynila. =)
Ah.. Malaki din pala..
May nabibili pobang mga KIPING doon?
Pweding gawing snacks? hehehehe.. 🙂
gondo gondo.. napakakulay ng Quezon.. makadalaw din minsan sa ganyang event 😛
First time ko makicelebrate sa Pahiyas Festival and dinayo pa talaga naming dalawa ng pinsan ko. Balikan man ung byahe, sobrang sulit naman kasi sobrang ganda and kulay nung mga bahay. 🙂
Buhay na buhay ung Lucban, Sayang, ndi na namin nakita ung mga bahay nung gabi kasi baka ndi na kam makauwi. hehe. Mas maganda pala ung simbahan kapag gabi. 😀
Nice post Gael. 🙂 Pahiyas in Quezon is one of the many Festivals in the Philippines that I’d love to experience… Nice to know na nasa labas lang din ng church yung mga angels. 🙂 Smile.
very colorful festivity. sana maexperience ko rin to kahit once lang 🙂
well documented as youve captured the night scene which i actually appreciate most. i remember when we went there for the first time, we stayed overnight to see it by night. sad to hear about the experience in the church.
fantastic night shots!
great photos, gael! sayang d tayo nag meet, i was there but sa sunday na 🙂
Nice… Very Nice!!! great photos and documentation btw. I’m deejay one of the designers in PArikitan i’ve just heard that you need help in getting the list of my Co designers, how i can help
Wow! Hi Deejay! =) Thank you for dropping by. I wasn’t able to take the photos kase of the names of the designers, ikaw lang alam ko kase nabasa kita dun sa isang blogger na napadaan din dito . I wish to include your names on the upcoming post sana to give you naman credit for the job well done. I’ll just e-mail you nlng po the photos once I’m done with it and I’ll ask you nlng po who designed each of the gowns. Para mas madili ma-pinpoint. =) thanks! =)
Wow these pictures are great. I was also there during the festival with some friends… It was really amazing and I didn’t expect that huge crowd. But overall, it was fun and the habhab was delicious…. I see people eating the habhab every corner of Lucban haha
We always pass Lucban whenever we go to Mauban which, is just 2 towns away but have never attended the Pahiyas Festival. Your pics and descriptions were great that as if I were there. Will make it a point to visit it next year. Maybe next time visit also Mauban where we have a place in Cagbalete Island
Hello! I grew up in Lucban and I’m sorry about the nasty attitude of those people from the church. Anyway, in case you need a place to stay when you feel like going back there, please feel free to PM me in my FB account. You might also want to visit the Kamay ni Hesus some other time and I hope you won’t experience the same. Regards!
Hi Ate Love, nagulat ako, i checked your site. ikaw nga! hehe taga-Lucban ka pala. i ddnt know. my tinirhan kame dun sobrang baet. sorry din sa rant. lol ok naman, mababaet naman mga tao except yung taga church na yun. LOL regards din.
Nice blog! Can I ask if you knew any transcient house in Lucban? As for the comment regarding Cabaglete Island, I longed to visit that place. Maybe soon…
i’ve seen some inns in the area but did not take note of them. m sorry.