Visual Arts in Drama and Festivals

Panagbenga (English: Flower Festival) is a month-long annual flower festival occurring in Baguio, the summer capital of the Philippines. The term is of Malayo-Polynesian origin, meaning “season of blooming”. The festival, held during the month of February, was created as a tribute to the city’s flowers and as a way to rise up from the devastation of the 1990 Luzon earthquake. The festival includes floats that are decorated with flowers not unlike those used in Pasadena’sRose Parade. The festival also includes street dancing, presented by dancers clad in flower-inspired costumes, that is inspired by the Bendian, an Ibaloi dance of celebration that came from the Cordillera region.

A side from economic boosts from tourism, the festival also helped the younger generation of indigenous people to rediscover their culture’s old traditions. The indigenous people was first wary with government-led tourism because of the threat that they will interfere or change their communities’ rituals. The A. Lim of the Bases Conversion Development Authority (BCDA). Entries from the annual Camp John Nichol Sibug art contest gave its official logo: a spray of sunflowers. The festival was set in February to boost tourism as it was considered as a month of inactivity between the busy days of Christmas season and the Holy Week and the summer season. In 1996, archivist and curator Ike Picpican suggested that the festival be renamed as Panagbenga, a Kankanaey term that means “a season of blossoming, a time for flowering”.

Pahiyas Festival is a colorful feast celebrated every 15th of May by the people of Lucban, Quezon in honor of San Isidro Labrador. It is the farmers’ thanksgiving for a bountiful harvest with a grand display of colorful rice wafers, fruits, vegetables, and handicrafts adorning every house in the town.

The festival’s name comes from the Filipino terms hiyas (jewel) and pahiyas (precious offering). This feast is an ancient farmers’ harvest celebration that dates back to the 16th century. According to legend, San Isidro Labrador magically plowed the field whenever he went out of the church. This is the story that the Spaniards passed on to the Philippines from Mexico during their colonial period. Since then, the Pahiyas Festival has been a source of excitement for the locals and visitors of Quezon Province.

The MassKara Festival (Hiligaynon: Pista sang MassKara, Filipino: Fiesta ng MassKara) is a festival held each year in Bacolod, Philippines, every third weekend of October nearest October 19, the city’s Charter Inauguration Anniversary.

The word “MassKara” is a portmanteau, coined by the late artist Ely Santiago from mass (a multitude of people), and the Spanish word cara (face), thus forming MassKara (a multitude of faces). The word is also a pun on maskara (Filipino for “mask”), since a prominent feature of the festival are the masks worn by participants, which are always adorned with smiling faces.

The festival first began in 1980 during a period of crisis. The province relied on sugar cane as its primary agricultural crop, and the price of sugar was at an all-time low due to the introduction of sugar substitutes like high fructose corn syrup in the United States. It was also a time of tragedy; on April 22 of that year, the inter-island vessel Don Juan carrying many Negrenses, including those belonging to prominent families in Bacolod City, collided with the tanker Tacloban City and sank. An estimated 700 lives were lost in the tragedy.

In the midst of these tragic events, the city’s artists, local government and civic groups decided to hold a festival of smiles, because the city at that time was also known as the City of Smiles. They reasoned that a festival was also a good opportunity to pull the residents out of the pervasive gloomy atmosphere. The initial festival was therefore, a declaration by the people of the city that no matter how tough and bad the times were, Bacolod City is going to pull through, survive, and in the end, triumph.

The Ati-Atihan Festival is a feast held annually in January in honor of the Santo Niño (Infant Jesus), concluding on the third Sunday, in the island and town ofKalibo, Aklan in the Philippines. The name “Ati-Atihan” means “to be like Aetas” or “make believe Ati’s.” Aetas were the primary settlers in the islands according to history books. They too are the earliest settlers of Panay Island where the province of Aklan is situated.

The festival consists of tribal dance, music, accompanied by indigenous costumes and weapons, and parade along the street. Christians, and non-Christians observe this day with religious processions. It has inspired many other Philippine Festivals including the Sinulog Festival of Cebu and Dinagyang of Iloilo, both adaptations of the Kalibo Ati-Atihan Festival.

A 13th century (c.1200 A.D.) event explains the origins of the festival. A group of 10 Malay chieftains called Datus, fleeing from the island of Borneo settled in the Philippines, and were granted settlement by the Ati people, the tribes of Panay Island. Datu Puti, Makatunaw’s chief minister made a trade with the natives and bought the plains for a golden salakot, brass basins and bales of cloth. For the wife of the Ati chieftain, they gave a very long necklace. Feasting and festivities followed soon after.

Sometime later, the Ati people were struggling with famine as the result of a bad harvest. They were forced to descend from their mountain village into the settlement below, to seek the generosity of the people who now lived there. The Datus obliged and gave them food. In return, the Ati danced and sang for them, grateful for the gifts they had been given.

The Ati-Atihan was originally a pagan festival from this tribe practicing Animism, and their worshiping their anito god. Spanish missionaries gradually added a Christian meaning. Today, the Ati-Atihan is celebrated as a religious festival.

Kaamulan Festival is an ethnic cultural festival held annually in Malaybalay City, Bukidnon from the second half of February to March 10, the anniversary date of the foundation of Bukidnon as a province in 1917. It is held to celebrate the culture and tradition of the seven ethnic tribal groups—Bukidnon, Higaonon, Talaandig, Manobo, Matigsalug, Tigwahanon and Umayamnon—that originally inhabit the province. It is the only ethnic festival in the Philippines.

Kaamulan comes from the Binukid word “amul” meaning to gather. Kaamulan is gathering for a purpose—a datuship ritual, a wedding ceremony, a thanksgiving festival during harvest time, a peace pact, or all of these together.

Kaamulan started as a festival on May 15, 1974, during the fiesta celebration of the then municipality of Malaybalay. A town official thought of inviting some indigenous people to town and made them perform a few dance steps at Plaza Rizal to enliven the fiesta celebration. The celebration however proved very popular and together with national coverage the Kaamulan festival has become the regional festival of Northern Mindanao, as declared by the Regional Development Council of Region 10 on September 16, 1977. Kaamulan was formerly held on the first week of September but in 1996, it was transferred to the present date to synchronize it with the foundation celebration of the province.

The Moriones is an annual festival held on Holy Week on the island of Marinduque, Philippines. The “Moriones” are men and women in costumes and masks replicating the garb of biblical Roman soldiers as interpreted by local folks. The Moriones or Moryonan tradition has inspired the creation of other festivals in the Philippines where cultural practices or folk history is turned into street festivals.

Colorful festivals celebrated on the island of Marinduque and the Philippines. Morion means “mask” or “visor,” a part of the medieval Roman armor which covers the face. Moriones, on the other hand, refers to the masked and costumed penitents who march around the town for seven days searching for Longinus. Morions roam the streets in town from Holy Monday to Easter Sunday scaring the kids, or engaging in antics or surprises to draw attention. This is a folk-religious festival that re-enacts the story of Saint Longinus, a Roman centurion who was blind in one eye.

The festival is characterized by colorful Roman costumes, painted masks and helmets, and brightly colored tunics. The towns of Boac, Gasan, Santa Cruz, Buenavista and Mogpog in the island of Marinduque become one gigantic stage. The observances form part of the Lenten celebrations of Marinduque. The various towns also hold the unique tradition of the pabasa or the recitation of Christ’s passion in verse.[2] Then at three o’clock on Good Friday afternoon, the Santo Sepulcro is observed, whereby old women exchange verses based on the Bible as they stand in wake of the dead Christ. One of the highlights of this festival is the Via Crucis. A re-enactment of the suffering of Christ on his way to the calvary. Men inflict suffering upon themselves by whipping their backs, carrying a wooden cross and sometimes even crucifixion. They see this act as their form of atonement for their sins. This weeklong celebration starts on Holy Monday and ends on Easter Sunday.

The Pasyón (Spanish: Pasión) is a Philippine epic narrative of the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. In stanzas of five lines of eight syllables each, the standard elements of epic poetry are interwoven with a colourful, dramatic theme. The primary method of performing this text is its chanting during the Lenten season or Holy Week, and is a popular Filipino Catholic devotion.

The text follows the pre-Hispanic tradition of chanting epic poems as a form of oral tradition. After Christianity was introduced by the Spanish, the Passion cycle was adapted into the native art.

The indigenous form of the Pasyón was first written down by Gaspar Aquino de Belén in “Ang Mahal na Pasión ni Jesu Christong Panginoon Natin na Tola” (“The Sacred Passion of Jesus Christ Our Lord that is a Poem”), written in 1703 and approved in 1704.

An 1852 erudition by Aniceto de Merced, El libro de la vida (“The Book of the Life [of Jesus]”) did not prove popular with the masses.

The most popular version of the Pasyón is the “Casaysayan nang Pasiong Mahal ni Jesucristong Panginoon Natin na Sucat Ipag-alab nang Puso nang Sinomang Babasa” (“The History of the Passion of Jesus Christ Our Lord that Surely Shall Ignite the Heart of Whosoever Readeth”). This version is also known as the Pasyóng Henesis as it includes the Creation narrative before the life of Mary and Christ, and as the Pasyóng Pilapil, after its 1884 foreword by Dr Mariano Pilapil. The book’s title page describes it as being commissioned by former Archbishop of Manila José Seguí, O.S.A. and former Augustinian provincial Manuel Grijalvo, O.S.A., and edited by a certain Fr Amador W. Cruz.

A widely circulated version of this is the 1949 edition, published by Ignacio Luna and Sons, Co. (branded as Awit at Salaysay ng Pasiong Mahal…instead of Casaysayan).

Zarzuela (Spanish pronunciation: [θarˈθwela]) is a Spanish lyric-dramatic genre that alternates between spoken and sung scenes, the latter incorporating operatic and popular song, as well as dance. The etymology of the name is not totally certain, but some propose it may derive from the name of a Royal hunting lodge, the Palacio de la Zarzuela near Madrid, where, allegedly, this type of entertainment was first presented to the court. The palace was named after the place called “La Zarzuela” because of the profusion of brambles (zarzas) that grew there, and so the festivities held within the walls became known as “Zarzuelas”.

There are two main forms of zarzuela: Baroque zarzuela (c.1630–1750), the earliest style, and Romantic zarzuela (c.1850–1950), which can be further divided into two. Main sub-genres are género grande and género chico, although other sub-divisions exist.

Zarzuela spread to the Spanish colonies, and many Hispanic countries – notably Cuba – developed their own traditions. There is also a strong tradition in the Philippines where it is also known as sarswela/sarsuela. Other regional and linguistic variants in Spain include the Basquezartzuela and the Catalan sarsuela.

A masque-like musical theatre had existed in Spain since the time of Juan del Encina. The zarzuela genre was innovative in giving a dramatic function to the musical numbers, which were integrated into the argument of the work. Dances and choruses were incorporated as well as solo and ensemble numbers, all to orchestral accompaniment.

Moro-moro (Comedia) is a play that became popular in the Philippines during the Spanish colonial period. It depicted battles between Christians and Moros-as Muslims in the Philippines are popularly known-with the Moros as the perpetual villains who always lost to the Christians in the end.