KABKABAN FESTIVAL (CARCAR)

Kabkaban was first conceptualized as a yearly agro-industrial fair showcasing the products of Carcar. It is the local government’s contribution to add color to the celebration of the annual fiesta, at the same time to inculcate in the people the products Carcar is known for.

It got its name from the old name of Carcar, which is “Kabkad” or “kabkaban” because of the abundance of study ferns known to old folks as “kabankaban”.

PASTORES FESTIVAL (NAGA)

Pastores is a poetic morality play and dance portraying the story of the shepherds’ search for the baby Jesus. Pastores are shepherds who had known and witnessed the birth of Jesus after the angel appeared to them.

Pastores is visible in Naga during Christmas season from October to February. Pastores is done in almost all mountain barangays in Naga, a tradition handed down since the Spanish period that went with a handwritten script handed down by the elders.

SIKOY SIKOY FESTIVAL (SAN FERNANDO)

Sikoy Sikoy festival is a festivity to celebrate God’s gift of love to the people of San Fernando.

Sikoy Sikoy comes from the word “sikoy” which literally means “an act of fishing using nets deliberately done when tides are rough and sturdy”.

The festival is a thanksgiving ritual and a petition prayer for guidance, protection and blessings for a bountiful harvest from the farm and from the sea.

BONGA FESTIVAL (SIBONGA)

Bonga festival is a form of thanksgiving for all the blessings and graces Sibonganhons have received from Sta. Filomena and Our Lady of Pilar especially for the abundant fruits found in the town.

Bunga is a Cebuano word which means fruit in English.

PITLAGONG FESTIVAL (ARGAO)

The Pitlagong festival of Argao is celebrated as a form of prayer and offering to Saint Michael the Archangel, the town’s patron saint. It is also considered as a way of uniting the people to participate in the community development efforts.

“Pitlagong” is an instrument made of bamboo and is used to clean the bamboo container (sugong) used in collecting coconut wine (tuba) or vinegar (suka).

“Tuba” is part of the daily lives of Argawanon.

SILOY FESTIVAL (ALCOY)

The town of Alcoy is the home of the largest population of the black shama locally known as siloy.

Siloy Festival promotes the Mag-abo forest, the town’s scenic white sand beaches and dive spots as the main components of the local government’s unit eco-tourism program.

UTANON FESTIVAL (DALAGUETE)

Utanon festival is a celebration of good harvest through dance and music— through music because the town of Dalaguete is not only known as the vegetable basket of the province but the music capital of the island as well.

TOSTADO FESTIVAL (SANTANDER)

Tostado is the town’s own delicacy. Tostado festival celebration not only manifests the people’s unique identity but also propels culture and tradition in the locality.

BAHANDI (ALCANTARA)

The town of Alcantara is blessed with abundant marine resources and fertile lands. The bounties of the land and sea of Alcantara are said to be the wealth or the so called “bahandi” of the people.

Bahandi festival is a celebration of good life, of good harvest, of merrymaking and of thanksgiving.

It is also a cultural festival that shall portray the ways in fishing and in farming.

KAWAYAN FESTIVAL (ALEGRIA)

Kawayan Festival depicts the lifestyle, culture, and livelihood of the Alegrianhons which are associated with bamboos.

This festival exhibits the art of the bamboo dance.

HINULAWAN FESTIVAL (TOLEDO)

Hinulawan Festival comes from the word “Hinaguang Bulawan.”

Historically Hinulawan was the original settlement located in daanglungsod of the early Toledanos.

KINSAN FESTIVAL (ALOGUINSAN)

Kinsan Festival is an artistic reminder of how Aloguinsan got its name, from “ulo sa kinsan.”

Kinsan is a kind of fish abundant in the southwester town.

TUBOD FESTIVAL (TUBURAN)

The concept of the festival revolves around two aspects: the town’s origin and historical account and the religious beliefs and traditions of the Tuburanhons that well describe the Tuburan spirit.

LAPYAHAN FESTIVAL (SAN REMEGIO)

Lapyahan means shoreline. Lapyahan describes the unique feature of the town of San Remegio for having the longest stretch of white sand beaches in Cebu province.

HALADAYA FESTIVAL (DAANBANTAYAN)

Haladaya means an offering to Datu Daya, the legendary chieftain of the town.

Haladaya festival is a celebration of the town’s victory over the oppressive Moro pirates.

It tells about the heroism of Datu Daya and showcase the glorious past of the place.

PALAWOD FESTIVAL (BANTAYAN)

Palawod is the act of going out to sea with the sole intent to fish. Palawod is a fisherman’s daily toil, his means of livelihood, his life, his pride.

Palawod festival depicts life in a fishing village like Bantayan.

BUWAD FESTIVAL (MADRIDEJOS)

Way back then, when ice was not yet discovered and the people of the town did not have available market due to the absence of transportation, the town’s people embarked on salting their enormous catch of fish.

Buwad or uga is the Cebuano term for dried fish.

KUYAYANG FESTIVAL (BOGO)

Kuyayang means courtship dance where movements convey love characterized by the Bogohanons carinoso character.

Kuyayang was practiced by the elderly Bogohanons and is now the unique identity of the town.

KARANSA FESTIVAL (DANAO CITY)

Karansa in Danao means to dance, be merry and celebrate.

The festival is open to all forms of dances as long as it is an offering to its patron saint- Sto. Tomas de Villanueva.

SINUGDANAN FESTIVAL (SOGOD)

Sogod is an old Cebuano word which means start or beginning.

You will know when you are already in the town of Sogod because this is where the white sand shoreline northern Cebu.

BUDBOD KABOG FESTIVAL (CATMON)

The festival promotes the native delicacy of the town.

While it promotes the delicacy, the festival through the budbod kabog dance highlights the various steps that kabog farmers make to grow the kabog grain. At the same time, the dance depicts the different processes that go into the production of the budbod kabog.

CASSAVA FESTIVAL (TUDELA)

In the early centuries, people living in the town of Tudela never cared to harvest or cook the root crop which was abundant in their place until famine struck.

The root crop got its name from a deaf woman named Balang.

The legend says that visitors of the place called Balang and asked her what she was carrying but Balang did not hear them, prompting her neighbor to shout, “Balang, Hoy!” thus the name balanghoy which means cassava in English.

TAG ANITO FESTIVAL (TUDELA)

Tag-anito is the original name of the town of Tudela.

The tag-anito festival is the festival of the town which is geared towards reminiscing the towns’ history while cassava festival is a festival showcasing their products.

TAGBO FESTIVAL (PORO)

Tagbo means to meet. History reveals that a battle ensued between two tribes living in Poro.

A gentle giant by the name of Panganuron intervened and was able to stop the violence.

Upon Panganuron’s suggestion, each tribe shall rise at the same time and shall proceed towards the direction of each until they are at a point where they converge.

It is from this meeting point that the united people built a town that is now Poro.

SOLI SOLI FESTIVAL (SAN FRANCISCO)

Soli soli is a kind of grass that grows abundantly around Lake Danao. For many years, the grass served as a source of livelihood for people living near the lake’s boundaries.

Woven by careful and artistic hands after when dried, soli-soli magnificently turns into beautiful bags, hats, centerpieces and the like.

Soli-soli festival is a thanksgiving for blessing the town with soli-soli which helped the people in uplifting their economic standards.

PAMUGSAY FESTIVAL (PILAR)

The term pamugsay comes from the word bugsay or paddle.

Pamugsay or paddling has become relevant for the people of Pilar, an island town, as they paddle together in unity and with a single direction.

MANTAWI FESTIVAL (MANDAUE CITY)

Mantawi festival is a rediscovery of Mandaue City’s rich cultural heritage.

Its historical past affirms its present identity as a highly urbanized industrial center and a new tourism destination, where arts and culture become tools for progress and propriety.

SAROK FESTIVAL (CONSOLACION)

Sarok-making was then a means of livelihood for the early townsfolk of Consolacion. Dried banana leaves and thin bamboo strips are made by skilled hands into circular, cone –tipped hats used mostly by farmers in the field to protect themselves from the scorching heat of the sun and even rain.

These hats signify unity, creativity, and industry of the local folks of Consolacion.

DINAGAT/BAKASI FESTIVAL (CORDOVA)

Originally, the festival showcases the livelihood and depicts the fishing culture of the Cordovanhons. But eventually, it evolved into a reinvented festival reflecting both the way of life of the residents, who takes pride of the abundant rich marine resources of Cordova, the Cordova eel or bakasi.

ROSQUILLOS FESTIVAL (LILOAN)

The making of these little ringlet cookies date back to April 3, 1907, when the then 21-year-old Margarita “Titay” Frasco was tinkering in her kitchen with her baking ingredients and made her new culinary creation.

Kneading the dough manually and using a wooden eggbeater, some baking tins and a clay oven, little did the 21-year-old know that she was starting a product that would put her little town in the national and international map of gastronomic delight.

The market for her unnamed cookie started with her neighbors and passersby who were offered the snack as a freebie for every purchase of a bottle of soda. It was then Cebu governor Sergio Osmeña, who later became Philippine president, who gave it the name rosquillos after the Spanish word rosca.

Source: cebu.gov.ph