In Spain as well as in the Philippines, May is a festive month and in the town where I live, our fiestas started with fireworks last Friday. We have all sorts of rides and also some small shops around.
Traditionally, fiestas were held to honor a saint, but nowadays, they seem to be observed as an occasion for the teens to gather and drink leaving their signatures in trash and others that cannot be mentioned.
Traditionally, fiestas were held to honor a saint, but nowadays, they seem to be observed as an occasion for the teens to gather and drink leaving their signatures in trash and others that cannot be mentioned.
But in the Philippines, in Gumaca, one of the oldest towns in the country, the Baluarte Festival, probably one of the merriest and grandest fiestas in honor of St. Isidore, the people celebrate to show their gratitude for the bounty of the land by building big bamboo arches called "baluarte" a bastion decorated with chandeliers made of bamboo, to display their own harvests and other embellishments, called araña.
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| This is the araña |
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| Display in Baluarte |
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| Embellishments |
The festivities start Saturday night with the “Gimikan” and “Yubakan,” a competition among barangays on the best yubak and street dance. A traditional Gumaca delicacy, yubak is made of cassava or a certain type of banana "saba" mashed with coconut, peanut butter, sugar and milk. Guests move from one baluarte to another to taste the yubak and see the youth perform their dance moves, with everything including the chairs and sound system mobile so the party hops from one baluarte to another.
And contrary to Spain, amid all the festivities, among the people of Gumaca their genuine effort to honor their patron saint, as well as their pride in the harvest and bounty of their land still remain.
Excerpts from the report by: Kelly Austria
Philippine Daily Inquirer 10:58 pm | Saturday, May 21st, 2011 
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