Fiesta: Pinoy Style

"Fiesta" is the Spanish term for a feast, party, or festival. In Spain, it is usually a religious holiday. Filipinos got their festive atmosphere for both religious and cultural holidays from the Spaniards who colonized the country for over 300 years.

The primary themes for fiestas are fertility and planting, harvest, adoration, and supplication; sometimes, a combination of several themes. Planning usually takes up to a year--the decorations, costumes, and events are often both expensive and lavish.

The Philippine fiesta is a lot more than what it seems to serve. It is the tie that binds Filipinos from a specific region together, an opportunity to reunite with extended families and long-lost neighbors, a time to rejoice in friendship, an occasion to thank the Creator, and an opening to promote tourism. Sometimes even more unsparing than Christmas itself, fiestas are celebrated in a way in which people spend all that they have, forgetting the expenses and just being happy that they can afford to entertain and feed the others.

Liston Baboy (Roast Pig)

Banderitas (Fiesta Banners)

Street Bands

Parades and Colorful Costumes