Pinoy Festival: Lucban's Pahiyas Festival, A Celebration of Thanksgiving for a Bountiful Harvest

The sleepy town of Lucban in the province of Quezon becomes more alive and colorful every May 15th as they celebrate the annual Pahiyas Festival. It is a celebration of thanksgiving for a bountiful harvest in honor of San Isidro Labrador, the "Patron of Saint of Farmers". Beautifully decorated houses along the historic streets of Lucban amazed me as it is my first time to witness Pahiyas Festival.

I arrived at around 7:00 AM and was able to catch the morning procession along the Pahiyas route. Yearly, the route is changed to give different houses the chance to participate in the annual festival.

The myriad of colors, mouthwatering delicacies and happy faces are the biggest drawer of this festival. Homemade colorful rice wafer decors called "kiping", vegetables, fruits, rice grains, handicrafts and other farm produce were used to decorated the houses participating in the festival.

I could see how happy the people are to have their photos taken along with the different farm produce displayed in each house. It is a festival for kids, families and friends!

FOOD TRIP

My tummy is also on a feast as I sample on the different delicacies sold around the town.

Pancit Hab-hab for 10 pesos

Grilled Longganisang Lucban for 8 pesos each

Pilipit made from "Kalabasa" and Buchi made from "malagkit na bigas" for 6 pesos each

Kiping for 10 pesos per serving

Also, don't forget to bring home some longganisang Lucban and kesong puti for pasalubong. As well as buri hats, one of Lucban's cottage industries, as souvenir.

Kesong Puti

Lucban Longganisa

Buri Hats, one of the cottage industries in Lucban

As I walk along the Pahiyas route, some of my readers recognized me. We had some photo-ops as souvenir. Nice meeting you all! :)

In the afternoon, a grand parade and activities such as "Parikitan", "Pansit Habhab Fiesta-val", "Bigas Gayak" and "Higantes ng Lucban" were held. Too bad, I need to go home after lunch and wasn't able to catch these activities.

Truly, Pahiyas Festival is a must-see Filipino celebration of colors and abundance you shouldn't miss! Festivals are definitely more fun in the Philippines!

Salamat Lucban! I enjoyed my first Pahiyas Festival experience! Happy Fiesta!

HOW TO GET TO LUCBAN, QUEZON

On Public Transportation

via Manila-Calamba-Lucban
Ride a bus going to Sta Cruz, Laguna and alight at SM Calamba. There are bus companies located in Buendia-Taft Ave. or Cubao that ply daily the Manila-Sta. Cruz route. Travel time is around 1 hour. At SM Calamba, take a passenger van to Lucban. Travel time is around 1.5 hours.

via Manila-Sta. Cruz-Lucban
Ride a bus going to Sta Cruz, Laguna. There are bus companies located in Cubao or Buendia-Taft Ave. that ply daily the Manila-Sta. Cruz route. Get-off at Sta. Cruz and take a jeepney bound for Lucban.

via Manila-Lucena-Lucban
From Manila, take a Lucena bound bus. Several buses located along Buendia-Taft, Pasay-EDSA, EDSA-Kamuning in Quezon City, and Araneta Center in Cubao have daily trips to Lucena City. Upon reaching Lucena Grand Central Terminal, take a Lucban bound jeepney or mini bus. It’s just around 30-45 minutes away from the grand terminal.

On Private Car

via South Luzon Expressway
Take the South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) and take the Calamba exit. Pass through the towns of Calamba, Los Baños, Bay, Victoria, Pila, Sta Cruz, Pagsanjan, Cavinti, Luisiana and then to the town of Lucban. It is the first town in Quezon if you take this route.

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