Higantes Festival, also known as the Feast of San Clemente, is celebrated every November 23 in the town of Angono, Rizal. This is a major festival in honor of San Clemente, the patron saint of fishermen. His image is carried by male devotees during a procession accompanied by pahadores (devotees dressed in colorful local costumes or fishermens clothes, wearing wooden shoes and carrying boat paddles, fish nets, traps, etc.) and higantes (paper-mâché giants measuring 10-12 feet in height and 4-5 feet in diameter). This street event ends in a procession to Laguna de Bay until the image is brought back to its sanctuary. History; More than a century ago, when Angono was still a Spanish hacienda, the hacienda owners prohibited the townspeople from holding any celebrations. Aside from the costly preparation, they also wanted to restrict pagan festivities. They allowed only one annual celebration -- the town fiesta in honor of its patron saint, San Clemente. The townspeople took advantage of this sole festivity, prepared lots of food, wore colorful costumes, and held a big procession featuring big paper-mâché caricatures of their Spanish landlords -- an art form imported from Mexico by Spanish friars. These multi-colored, humongous, comical and sometimes scary 12-footers were called Higantes or giants. Before, only two or three higantes were made, representing a mag-anak (father, mother and son/daughter). In 1987, Mr. Perdigon Vocalan suggested that all thirteen barangay must have two or three higantes, symbolizong the barangay’s industry or personality. This idea materialized with the help of the Department of Tourism and Provincial Tourism Office. Since then, the towns folk maintained this practice and elevated it into an art form. This colorful celebration boasts of around 40 different higantes representing each barangay and attracting local and foreign tourists.
Posted on: Wed, 29 Oct 2014 06:16:48 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015