Follow the fiesta calendar from January to December. Every major celebration, where it happens, and when to be there.
Fiestas & celebrations
Fiesta season opens with a bang
Cebu City, Cebu · Central Visayas (Region VII)
The grandest fiesta in the country. Millions fill Cebu City with drumbeats and prayer as dancers move to the two-step rhythm of the Santo Niño in a week-long explosion of color.
Third Sunday of January
Kalibo, Aklan · Western Visayas (Region VI)
The mother of Philippine festivals. Kalibo's streets turn wild as revelers paint their faces with soot, don tribal headdresses and dance non-stop in honor of the Santo Niño.
Third week of January
Iloilo City · Western Visayas (Region VI)
Iloilo City's award-winning tribute to the Santo Niño. Troops of 'Ati warriors' in dazzling feathered costumes battle it out in one of Asia's best street-dance competitions.
Fourth Sunday of January
Fiestas & celebrations
Blooms light up the highlands
Baguio City · Cordillera Administrative Region
The Summer Capital blooms. Giant floats overflowing with sunflowers and orchids glide down Session Road as Baguio shakes off the cold with month-long street dancing.
Whole of February · grand parade late Feb
Laoag City, Ilocos Norte · Ilocos Region (Region I)
Named after a beloved Ilocano maiden of folk song, Laoag's fiesta blends calesa parades, street dancing and Ilocano gastronomy around its centuries-old church.
February 10
Fiestas & celebrations
The highlands gather, Davao turns a year older
Malaybalay City, Bukidnon · Northern Mindanao (Region X)
The only ethnic festival of its kind: the seven tribes of Bukidnon gather in Malaybalay's highlands to dance, chant, race horses and trade in full traditional regalia.
Late February to March 10
Davao City · Davao Region (Region XI)
Davao City celebrates its charter day with street parties, Mutya ng Dabaw pageantry and a city-wide feast beneath the ever-watchful profile of Mount Apo.
March 16
Fiestas & celebrations
Holy Week drama and a capital showdown
Boac, Marinduque · Mimaropa (Region IV-B)
Masked Roman legionnaires with crested helmets roam Boac for a week of theatrical pursuit, retelling the story of Longinus in the country's most dramatic Holy Week celebration.
Holy Week (March or April)
Manila · National Capital Region (NCR)
The country's best festival contingents converge on Manila's boulevards in a single spectacular showdown of regional costumes, floats and drumbeats.
Late April (dates vary)
Fiestas & celebrations
The month of flowers and harvests
Lucban, Quezon · CALABARZON (Region IV-A)
Lucban's homes become canvases: walls draped in kiping, brilliant rice-wafer chandeliers in red, gold and green, competing for the prettiest house in a thanksgiving for harvest.
May 15
Nationwide · grandest in Manila (NCR)
May evenings glow with flower offerings to the Virgin Mary, crowned by the elegant Santacruzan procession of sagalas in gowns recreating Queen Helena's search for the Holy Cross.
Whole of May · grand parade last Sunday
Fiestas & celebrations
Food, warriors and independence pride
Balayan, Batangas · CALABARZON (Region IV-A)
Balayan's most beloved sons are its lechons: roast pigs dressed in costumes and splashed with water as they parade through town for the feast of St. John the Baptist.
June 24
Tacloban City, Leyte · Eastern Visayas (Region VIII)
Tacloban recalls its tattooed warrior ancestors: dancers painted head to toe in bold black and gold patterns fill the streets for Leyte's grandest fiesta week.
June 29 to 30
Fiestas & celebrations
Woven cloth and a blood compact
Koronadal City, South Cotabato · SOCCSKSARGEN (Region XII)
Honoring the dream-woven t'nalak cloth of the T'boli, Koronadal's streets flow in red, black and white patterns during South Cotabato's biggest celebration.
Mid-July (around July 18)
Tagbilaran City, Bohol · Central Visayas (Region VII)
Bohol commemorates the 1565 blood compact of Legazpi and Sikatuna with a month of street dancing, fluvial parades and performances across Tagbilaran.
Whole of July · grand parade late July
Fiestas & celebrations
The king of festivals reigns
Davao City · Davao Region (Region XI)
Davao gives thanks for life, harvest and heritage: orchid-laden floats, Lumad performances and Indak-indak street dancing make August the city's most colorful month.
Third week of August
Cagayan de Oro · Northern Mindanao (Region X)
The City of Golden Friendship honors St. Augustine with golden-costumed street dancing, rafts on the Cagayan River and carnival nights along the boulevard.
Last week of August (August 28 highlight)
Fiestas & celebrations
Rivers of devotion, oceans of tuna
Naga City, Camarines Sur · Bicol Region (Region V)
The biggest Marian devotion in Asia: Ina's image sails the Naga River on a candle-lit fluvial procession as hundreds of thousands of devotees line the banks.
Third week of September
General Santos City · SOCCSKSARGEN (Region XII)
The Tuna Capital of the Philippines celebrates its record catches with fish-shaped floats, sashimi feasts and sizzling street dancing in GenSan.
Early September (around September 5)
Fiestas & celebrations
Masks of smiles and epic heroes
Bacolod City, Negros Occidental · Western Visayas (Region VI)
Born from crisis, bacolodnon creativity turned into smiling masks, sequins and feathers. The plaza becomes a non-stop street party on the October highlight weekend.
Third week of October
Legazpi City, Albay · Bicol Region (Region V)
Legazpi brings the Bicolano epic to life: masked heroes Handyong and Baltog battle the monsters of old below the perfect cone of Mayon Volcano.
Second week of October (dates vary)
Fiestas & celebrations
Giants walk, candles glow
Angono, Rizal · CALABARZON (Region IV-A)
The art capital of the Philippines parades its towering higantes: giant paper-mâché figures with grinning faces, born from fisherfolk protest, now pure joy.
November 23
Nationwide · most famous in Manila & provincial towns
The country's most tender observance: families reunite around candle-lit graves with flowers, food and stories, turning cemeteries into places of reunion and remembrance.
November 1 to 2
Fiestas & celebrations
The world's longest Christmas
San Fernando City, Pampanga · Central Luzon (Region III)
Pampanga's barangays battle with colossal lanterns of up to 20 feet, synchronized in dancing light. San Fernando is the Christmas Capital of the Philippines for a reason.
Mid-December · displayed until January
Nationwide · nine dawn masses
Nine dawn masses under glowing parol star lanterns open the world's longest Christmas season, with puto bumbong and bibingka sold outside every church.
December 16 to 24
Every destination guide tells you when the biggest local celebration happens, so you can land right in the middle of it.
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