Pahiyas Festival in Quezon Province: Pictures that say a thousand compliments

The Pahiyas Festival is an annual event that honors Lucban’s patron saint, San Isidro de Labrador, also the patron saint of farmers. A festival that has its roots from the Spanish times, the Pahiyas is one of the country’s most colorful and highly anticipated. Tourists from all over the country and even  from abroad come to this place every 15th of May to celebrate with the locals and pray for better harvests. An abundance of vegetables and colored grass adorn the beautiful and dainty homes along the narrow streets of Lucban, which incidentally means Pomelo, again a fruit.

I love the colors that they have chosen for their homes. Yellow is particularly a happy color, apolitically speaking. Basically an agricultural economy, the town of Lucban values the land and its fruits through the celebration of the Pahiyas. It is a festival of plenty and respect for both the farmers and their best friend, the carabao (water buffalo). Aside from decorating their homes, Lucban residents also have a parade of carabao-drawn sleds, opulently decorated to flaunt the land’s wonderful resources. The Pahiyas is indeed a wonderful time for the people of Lucban.

Some of the residents invite tourists to come to their homes and have their photos taken inside the house, which only proves the wonderful hospitality of Lucban’s local population. No need to pay for gain entry. Just ask you they shall show you in.

Despite the traffic we had to brave in coming to Lucban, it was well worth the trip.

So you like my pictures? These were all taken by a Samsung PL150 with dual LCD screen. Samsung PL150 made me take pictures like a pro!