Davao City: 31st Kadayawan Festival

It might be late but still I want to share my first Kadayawan Festival experience. An annual festival held every third week of August in Davao City. It was said that this festival is a celebration of life, thanksgiving for the gifts of nature, culture, bounty harvest and serenity of living. 

I was able to witness 2 of the highlights of the celebration, the Floral Float Parade and the Indak-Indak sa Kadalanan. If you are planning to witness the next Kadayawan Festival, make sure to wake up early, put on your sunscreen and don't forget your cameras. 

As early as 6AM, people are gathered along the streets of Davao City. We got there around 10AM, it was so hot and so many people are gathered to witness the event. 

Floral Float Parade, showcase the creative works of the locals. Colorful mobile floats creatively designed showing the vibrant flowers and fruits of Davao.

Indak-Indak, a road show of street dancing parade and competition. Each group performs their pieces showcasing traditions and culture of every tribe. 

Quezon: The Pahiyas Experience

Feast of San Isidro Labrador, the patron saint of farmers celebrated with colorful festival.

We left Manila at 5AM, planning to just stay a day in Lucban and head straight to Cagbalete Island. Though I expected a big crowd coming to the festival, I didn't realize this will be that big and in effect, heavy traffic welcomed us on our way to Lucban. I hate traffic, I admit I'm such an impatient person when it comes to this matter, I almost wanted to come back to Lucena and just go straight to Cagbalete. But no, there's no turning back, even transportation going back was jammed on the traffic. Though we are still a bit far, we decided to walk. It took us a total of 7 hours to reach the site.

Just imagine my reaction when I first saw those colorful houses full of flowers, fruits and vegetable. At last we're finally here.

Locals allowed us to go inside their house to take a picture.

We also visited the church and prayed.

We also did a side trip to Kamay ni Hesus, but I didn't dare to climb anymore as my leg were already shaking for hours of walking.

How we get there:

From EDSA-Kamuning, we took a bus (JAC Liner) to Lucena City (Fare: P218, Travel time: 4-5 hours). At Lucena Grand Terminal, we rode a jeepney to Lucban (Fare: P30, Travel time: supposedly 30 minutes but took us 2 hours).