Back Issue: Pahiyas Festival - A Way of Giving Thanks ~ the kaladkarin couple

When : 15 May 2009

Where: Lucban, Quezon, Philippines

The Girls with Kiping

My cousins invited us to witness the annual Pahiyas Festival held in their province. According to Mr. Wiki, Pahiyas Festival is celebrated every 15th day of May and is in honor of St. Isidore (San Isidro), the patron saint of farmers. During this time of the year, street of houses are adorned with agricultural products and the famous kipings. Kiping is a decor painstakingly prepared rice shaped into a leaf which can be eaten later on either by frying or grilling :D

In the duration of the festival, families would display their harvests outside creatively to let their priest bless them. Families would also compete for the title of the best decorated house, and whoever wins will give away all those fruits and vegetables as a free treat for everyone. Of course, a Filipino celebration will not be complete without a parade. The parade showcased the winners for the categories during the festival. She got to ride a carabao! :D

This joyous moment that we experienced was wonderful. The whole day walk that we did was greatly compensated by our eating the entire day. And the meals in between weren't those that one will consider as snacks. We had stuffed eggs, pancit habhab to name a few. Every house that we went to visit will serve sumptuous and mouthwatering food that only a fool can say no to.

Before heading home the following day, we stopped by Kamay Ni Hesus Shrine. The shrine is located at the slopes of Mt. Banahaw in Lucban. The church celebrates a healing mass by the renowned healing priest Fr. Joey Faller. You will also see the 200+ step hill with life size figures depicting the 14 stations of the cross. Upon reaching the top, you will see a huge statue of Jesus Christ. This is a good place to commemorate the Passion of Christ.

To end a weekend trip, we treated ourselves to a nice mais-con-hielo :D yum!

PS: View complete photos here :)