Words by Zean Villongco
Images by Don Oco

She ushered me in eagerly with the wave of her hand, gleefully beaming at me and at the same time self-effacingly excusing herself for the modesty and the organized clutter of her household as I entered the front door. Here was a woman openly welcoming me, a complete stranger, into her home upon my petty request to view the ongoing street festivities from her second-floor window.

Outside, the streets were a hive of people and tourists taking selfies in front of the many houses opulently and elaborately decorated in intricately vibrant mélanges of various farm produce. Layers of rice straw covered entire façades, and aranyas—multicolored chandeliers made from dyed kiping (leaf-shaped, paper-thin rice wafers)—were festooned upon the windows. Fruits and vegetables were fashioned into delightful ornaments and dioramas called anok, while images of St. Isidore the Laborer stood amidst all the decorations.

As it is on every May 15, the feast day of the Catholic Church’s patron saint of farmers, the town of Lucban in the province of Quezon comes alive in exuberant merriment with its Pahiyas Festival.

A Festival of Thanksgiving
Touted as the Philippines’ largest and most colorful harvest festival, the Pahiyas of Lucban is deeply rooted in the olden thanksgiving traditions of local farmers, who in early times made offerings to ancestral spirits or anitos at the foot of nearby Mount Banahaw.

It was during the 16th century, when the Philippines was being Christianized by Spain and local pagan practices were being appropriated into religious traditions by the Catholic church, that farmers then brought their harvests to church to be blessed by a priest. It was only after some time, when the church could no longer accommodate the ever-increasing annual offerings, that the locals started displaying their year’s harvest right in front of their houses where the priest, along with a procession carrying the image of St. Isidore the Laborer, would come to make the blessing.

Henceforth, the annual custom evolved as the townsfolk went on to adorn their houses with much lavish pomp and show, trying to outdo each other in the spirit of festive celebration. Thus, came about the festival’s name, which is derived from the vernacular payas which means ‘to decorate’.

From what normally would be a small and quiet provincial town during the rest of the year, Lucban is transformed into one huge bustling bazaar and colorful showboat of creativity and sensory enthrallment, whereby the townsfolk, or Lucbanins, show off their local pride and hospitality in spectacular fashion. Aside from its main draw of imaginatively bedecked houses, the Pahiyas explodes in a kaleidoscope of other festival highlights: the morning thanksgiving mass to San Isidro Labrador, the patron saint of harvest; the unending line of street food stalls plying local delicacies such as Lucban longganisa, pancit habhab, apas, and pilipit; the parikitan where pairs of young men and women flaunt extravagantly stylized Filipiniana couture designed by local couturiers; the grand parade clanging and stomping with marching bands and giant papier-mâché effigies called higantes; and the night-long parties flowing with the local poison, lambanog, and lit up by the scintillating kutitap lights of the ornamented houses.

The modern version of the Pahiyas, as we know it today, started in 1963 in what was initially an arts festival. From its inception, the festival has since incorporated trade fairs, cultural shows, contests, exhibits, and other elements of more organized commerce. Households now compete for major cash prizes aside from the pride of being named as the best decorated house.

There is the Tiangge Sa Lucban, an agro-industrial fair showcasing Lucban’s notable products and from which the town gains commercial benefits from the festival event. Restaurants and commercial establishments would all be filled up, while during the grand parade, motorcades promoting the various commercial sponsors of the festival join in and play up to the crowd’s merriment.

Yet amidst all its modern-day commercial hubbub, Pahiyas still remains at its core as a religious observance, a communal celebration for the gifts and bounties that God has provided through the land. Standing as the primary locus for many of the festival’s main highlights are the grounds of the Lucban’s historic San Luis Obispo de Tolosa Parish Church, where liturgical services are held during the whole day of the festival for the droves of attending devotees and where people gather for the start of the grand parade.

Charming Side Trips
Legends have it that there once were three hunters who lost their way following the trail of wild animals and eventually came to rest under a large leafy pomelo tree, locally referred to as lukban. During their respite, they heard a couple of kingfishers singing sweetly, and taking it as a sign of good fortune, thereafter fetched their families and settled in the area.

Perhaps those hunters had their hunches right in settling down in what is now the eponymously named town of Lucban, regarded as the Art Capital and Summer Capital of Quezon province. Sitting by the foot of the hallowed Mount Banahaw, this bucolic place of color and harmony offers visitors delightful attractions that in ways reflects the town’s vibrant spirit.

There is the Kamay ni Hesus Healing Center, a religious complex built in 2002 under the initiative of a faith-healing priest. The church within the complex grounds is claimed to heal believing devotees, while along the slopes of the nearby hill, visitors may venture to climb the more than 300 steps, following scenes from the Passion story which lead all the way up to the top where a 50-foot statue of the Ascending Christ stands, its arms reaching out over the scenic landscape of Lucban.

Within the grounds is also a ‘Garden of Eden’ that features life-size statues of biblical characters, and also a mockup of Noah’s ark which acts as a retreat house and souvenir shop.

Just a four-minute drive from Kamay ni Hesus is Bukid Amara, an enchantingly picturesque vegetable and flower farm that, thanks to being featured as a setting for some popular TV drama series, has made its rounds in many people’s Instagram feeds. With its gorgeous rows of sunflowers and plots of other kinds of blooms and crops, the place aims to advocate sustainable farming and promote farm recreation as a viable tourism product. In offering Filipino kamayan-style dining and hosting traditional Filipino games for its recreational activities, Bukid Amara hearkens visitors back to simpler times and a more pastoral way of living.

Pulsing with Life
For all its festival revelry and cultural pageantry, its smorgasbord of gustatory delights, the display of jovial hospitality by a community, or just the compulsory travel selfies flooded with hashtags, the Pahiyas of Lucban is certainly a festival for everyone seeking a different brand of good time.
On this singular day, under the divine patronage of one of heaven’s hosts, an entire community gives thanks for all the bounty it has received by sharing its blessings with all who come and visit. With all the sights, sounds, and flavors of a normally quaint provincial town suddenly pulsating in an explosion of colors, it is truly a delight to see the spirit and fortitude of olden Filipino traditions vibrantly springing to life in such a rich celebratory tableau.