FESTIVAL DANCES

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Why Festivals?

Festival dances are cultural dances performed to the strong beats of percussion instruments by a community of people sharing the same culture usually done in honor of a Patron Saint or in thanksgiving of a bountiful harvest. Festival dances may be religious or secular in nature. But the best thing about festivals is that they add to the merry-making and festivities where they are celebrated, the reason why they are called festival dances after all. Festival dances draw the people’s culture by portraying the people’s ways of life through movements, costumes and implements inherent to their place of origin.

Some of the famous festivals in the country include Sinulog of Cebu, Dinagyang of Iloilo, Ati-atihan of Kalibo, Aklan, Buyogan and Lingayan of Leyte, Bangus of Dagupan, T’nalak of South Cotabato, Masskara of Bacolod City, Bambanti of Isabela, and Kadayawan of Davao. Many others, especially from Luzon, are now paving their way to join the country’s festival of festivals, the Aliwan Fiesta which is done in the month of April.

Filipinos do festivals primarily to celebrate. There are a multitude of reasons for this reason. We celebrate our unity amidst the diversity of cultures and we celebrate our industry bringing about a bountiful harvest. Festivals have been a consistent crowd-producing activity leading to upliftment of a community’s economy due to its tourism and entertainment value. Basically, festivals are a form of entertainment that attracts foreign and domestic tourists to visit a place eventually leading to the elevation of the Filipino’s quality of life.

Religious and Secular Festivals

As mentioned earlier, festivals may either be religious, in honor of a certain religious icon or secular or non-religious, in thanksgiving or celebration of peoples industry and bountiful harvest. The following are some of the said festivals: