Exciting Festivals in the Philippines

The Philippines has many kinds of festivals and some of them are weird and rare. Here are some of the popular festivals celebrated in the Philippines:

1. The Hog Parade of Malolos

The Hog Parade of Malolos is celebrated every year, where the pigs are dressed in fancy clothes; they also wear make up! This celebration gathers the locals of Malolos and also tourists. When the parade has ended, everyone will be feasting on all kinds of free pork delicacies served by the local authorities. For your information, Malolos is the country's main pork supplier.

2. Sinulog Festival

Celebrated in Cebu, this colourful festival attracts tourists from all over the world.  It is one of the most exciting events in the country that displays interesting history. This celebration is celebrated each year on the third Sunday of January in Cebu to honour Saint Niῆo, who was a patron of the whole province. You will get to see participants dressed up in colourful outfits, dancing around, accompanied by musical instruments such as drums, trumpets, and gongs. Lots of activities held during this event such as trade fair and contest.

3. Hot air balloon Fiesta

The Hot Air Balloon Fiesta is held in the Philippines every year from around January-February at the Omni Aviation Complex in Clark, in hope that people from all age groups, young and old, to help the industry to move forward, simultaneously providing job opportunities. You’ll get to see fancy and colourful hot air balloons with hundreds of pilots from all over the world. There are also other events apart from hot air balloon such as skydiving, flag jumps, remote-control airplane, helicopter flying, and many more.

4. The Pahiyas Festival

The Pahiyas Festival is another Philippines’ festival, which is known as another fiesta to end all fiestas in the country. Every year, thousands of tourists attend this celebration. The event is held on every May 15, where each household would try to outdo each other in a friendly competition. This is the best time for them to show their creativity. The most creative ones shall be rewarded with cool prizes.

5. Oblation Run

The Oblation Run is an annual event celebrated by some Filipinos. The event was first organised in 1977 at the University of the Philippines Diliman in order to promote “Hubad na Bayani”, a Tagalog play. This is event is usually conducted on December 16 to show protest to contemporary national issues. The participants are usually men and they wear masks to hide their faces; to hide their identities. Some of them, however, are not completely naked. They wear small leaves to cover their genitals and they would offer roses to female spectators.