In this town in Quezon Province, residents transform their homes into dazzling tributes to faith, harvest, and heritage.
Growing up, the word bayanihan reminded me of a painting of neighbors carrying a wooden house on their shoulders. It was a scene representative of a time when homes were built light enough to carry and communities close enough to do so together. But beyond the literal meaning of bayanihan, the term has since signified something greater, a collective effort, of people coming together to help one another in times of need.
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| Tagay sa Tagumpay |
We arrive in Lucban and immediately noticed the preparations are already in full swing for the Pahiyas Festival happening the next day on the 15th of May, the town’s tribute to San Isidro Labrador, the patron saint of farmers.
.jpg "A lola takes a peek at the Pahiyas Festival preparation below") |
| A lola takes a peek at the Pahiyas Festival preparatation below |
Across Quezon province, other towns also celebrates the Feast of San Isidro in their own distinct ways: Agawan in Sariaya, Arañat Baluarte in Gumaca, Anihan in Mauban, Mayohan in Tayabas, Pabitin in Catanauan, and Sabungan in Agdangan.
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| Apart from the colorful houses, street dance performers adorned in vibrant clothes, parades the streets |
But in Lucban, where houses bloom with colorful kiping, rice stalks, fruits, and vegetables, the festival carries not only a sense of spectacle but also a deep expression of bayanihan. Once symbolized by neighbors physically lifting a wooden house, that spirit now lives on in the collective effort to uphold tradition.
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| There's a lot of happenings in the streets of Lucban during the Pahiyas |
Families help one another decorate house exteriors in friendly competition, with designs that follow customs tracing back to the first modern Pahiyas Festival in 1963 and even further, to rituals and influences that predate Spanish colonization in the 15th century.
History of Pahiyas Festival
Each May, the town of Lucban in Quezon province welcomes festival revelers to streets lined with houses adorned in vibrant, colorful decorations for the Pahiyas Festival, a celebration rooted in thanksgiving for all farming-related blessings. While the modern version of the festival began in 1963, its origins trace back to the 15th century long before the Spanish colonized the Philippines. Back then, farmers would gather their harvests and bring them to the foothills of Mt. Banahaw to be blessed by the Gods.
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| Home owners vie for a friendly competition the best designed home during the Pahiyas. |
When the Spanish arrived, this ritual was brought into the church. Farmers began offering their harvests to San Isidro Labrador. Eventually, as the harvests grew more bountiful, they could no longer be contained within church grounds. Farmers began displaying their produce in front of their homes, allowing the parish priest to go house to house, blessing the offerings.
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| Expect heaps of pancit habhab being served in every corner |
In 1963, Art Club of Lucban president Fernando Cadeliña Nañawa drew inspiration from these old traditions and reimagined them into the first official Pahiyas Festival. Since then, it has evolved into a glowing showcase of agricultural abundance. Homes are decorated with fruits, vegetables, rice stalks, and the colorful kiping, transforming the streets into living artworks.
What to Expect and Highlights During the Pahiyas Festival
Beyond the colorful homes decorated in farm produce, bamboo crafts, and wooden ornaments, the Pahiyas Festival in Lucban offers visitors a true taste of local culinary culture. As we wandered through the streets near the church, where the center of the festival celebration happens, we were greeted with free servings of pancit habhab at nearly every street corner. Unique to Quezon province, pancit habhab is a noodle dish eaten without utensils, traditionally slurped straight from banana leaves, thus the name habhab, which in local jargon aptly describes its way of eating it.
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| Creativity level reaches sky high every Pahiyas Festival |
After noticing it used widely in the decorations hanging in front of the houses, I also learned that the colorful, leaf-shaped ornaments are called kiping. Made from glutinous rice and dyed in bright colors, kiping is not only decorative but also edible. The thin, crisp wafers are a well-known local snack in Lucban. Though mild in flavor, they can be grilled or fried and are often served with vinegar for added taste.
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| "Rudyard" Kiping |
Around the 18th-century Saint Louis Bishop Parish Church, or commonly known as Lucban Church, with the original parish established in 1595, the surrounding streets, including Gomburza, La Purisima Concepcion, Lopez Jaena, Gregorio del Pilar, and A. Mabini among others, host the main cluster of decorated homes participating in the festival. Along these streets, visitors will also find numerous food vendors and stalls offering some of Lucban’s well-known delicacies. Among the most popular are Lucban longanisa, kesong puti, espasol, pilipit kalabasa and hardinera, just to state a few.
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| Lucban Longanisa |
Of course, you can expect to be invited into random houses to partake in their feasts, as Lucban residents are known to cook the best dishes they can during the Pahiyas Festival. For many such as myself, this is the best part of the festival, getting to eat a lot of food.
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| A parade of giants |
The San Isidro Procession is a central highlight of the Pahiyas Festival. When I first witnessed it in 2022, I was struck by the sight of giant papier-mâché puppets parading through the streets, accompanied by cultural performers and a lively marching band. Held on the afternoon of May 15, the event features multiple statues of San Isidro Labrador, each representing different stages of the patron saint’s life. As the procession passes through the town’s colorfully decorated homes that serves as a fitting backdrop, it adds a layer of visual richness to the celebration.
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| Even farm animals become part of Pahiyas festival |
At any time of day, visitors may encounter spontaneous cultural performances and smaller parades, such as a carabao procession. The festival also features a nightly concert, a food market, and a night market highlighting local products.
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| Kipings can be seen hanging on one of the houses |
In Lucban, the spirit of bayanihan endures not through the lifting of houses, but in the manner how neighbors help each other decorating participating houses despite each competing for a plum prize.
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| Piliit Kalabasa |
Beyond the spectacle of color and sound, what stands out most is how Lucban moves as one, like dancing to the drumbeats of the live band that parades through the streets during the festival, connecting the present to a storied past of farmers’ dedication to their crops hundreds of years ago.
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Having traveled extensively across the Philippines and witnessed countless festivals, what strikes me most about Pahiyas is how it effortlessly blends spectacle with community spirit. Lucban’s celebration isn’t just performative, here, the vibrant kiping decorations and shared feasts aren’t just for show; they are living expressions of gratitude and unity that invite every visitor to experience becoming part of a close-knit community.
