Angono’s GIGANTIC Fiesta: 2014 Higantes Festival
It’s November again and we all know what that means. Well, aside from being a month away from Christmas, November is also the month of the Higantes Festival!
Brightly lit Higantes
Photo courtesy of Angono Tourism Office
In the Art Capital of the Philippines, Angono, Rizal, a month-long celebration headlined by a parade of giant papier-maches takes part every November. The higantes of the Higantes Festival are derived from the historical account of Angono natives using effigies to protest against their Spanish oppressors. Aside from the mainstay higantes, women – from lovely lolas to cute little girls – stomp their way to town in wooden clogs known as bakyas. These ladies are known as parehadoras, and wielding wooden paddles, they signify the history of Angono as a fishing village.
Of course, a fiesta parade will be lacking if there wasn’t any music. Drum and lyre ensembles provide joyous background music to the Higantes Festival, with majorettes and flag bearers strutting to the tunes.
The Higantes Grand Parade took place last weekend on Sunday, November 16. Other highlights can be witnessed on November 22 and November 23, though, where there are tons of other activities in store for both the locals and the tourists. See below for the 2014 Higantes Festival Calendar of Activities prepared by Angono’s Tourism Office:
Make sure to bring a change of clothes if you plan to join the grand parades because getting doused in cold water and getting smeared with mud are inevitable. These are, of course, done in the spirit of good fun!
And if it’s your first time in Angono, check out Thunderbird Resort and these other fun things to do in the Art Capital of the Philippines.
See you there!
