Pahiyas Festival of Lucban, Quezon Province


San Isidro Labrador Feast
The Philippines is a country with a lot of festivities, mostly that are related to patron saints. The month of May is the most celebrated month in many parts of the country as many farmers celebrate the Feast of San Isidro Labrador, who is known to be the patron for good harvest. This is a familiar feast in the country as many of the rural areas or provinces are engaging in agricultural activities. This is a also way to show gratitude due a bountiful harvest amidst the production challenges due to dry spell or worse El Nino phenomenon.

San Louis Bishop Parish, Casa del Nino Jesus de Lucban
It is in my bucket list to visit Quezon Province and see the colorful and vibrant Pahiyas Festival of Lucban, Quezon. It is known to be a celebration wherein many participating houses decorate their place with hanged fruits, vegetables and colorful agricultural products/ornaments. Aside from that, it is a place where I want to experience and taste the very famous pancit habhab, and the kiping - this is made of ground rice, dyed and molded on big leaves - it is cooked and it can be eaten, yet I liked it fried. :-)

Pancit habhab

Fried Kiping

These photos above show the fried kiping with powdered cheese sprinkled over it and the pancit habhab. These are good snack items that will help you fill your tummy and taste the province's well-known delicacies. The pancit habhab is eaten without a fork (but you can ask for it, anyway), literally, habhab or eat it directly with your mouth dipped in the food - don't forget to put vinegar on it to add taste. The fried kiping is a finger food that I liked and I think is a good product to distribute in the market like the chips sold in the stores and even world-wide. I don't know if it is tried to be made commercial in a mass production but I hope it will. They also have longganisang lucban - a sausage hanged along the streets and it comes in small and medium sizes - but I failed to capture it. LOL


Decorated Houses at Pahiyas Festival
Pahiyas Festival Decorative Stalls
Pahiyas Festival is really inviting in the sense that it is very colorful and the community involvement is very high. The houses are decorated with colorful kiping and there are vegetable chandelier (oh yes, these are getting much attention from tourists - i guess it has more than 50 photo opportunity within an hour of sitting in a corner). The participating food stalls join the vibe of the Pahiyas Festival decorating their stalls with kiping and other ornaments, too.

Pahiyas Festival Decorated House
The decorated houses are very beautiful to see at night according to the locals, because the houses become more vibrant with lights everywhere. Anyways, I only had a day to go around, still beautiful to see these houses. There's a procession involved in this festival but the tourist police told us that it happens after lunch, but I wasn't able to catch it as I try to escape the traffic going back to the van I joined in. Yes, there are so many tourists in Lucban, Quezon during that festival and it creates heavy traffic going the place and there are closed roads as well. As a whole, the Pahiyas Festival experience is a fun experience though I thought there will be many free food stalls. I met a few people who also joined the Pahiyas Tour (yes, I am a joiner) and some local tourists who did the Pahiyas Tour a do-it-yourself way.

Have you visited Pahiyas, too? Hope to hear from you.

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