Philippine Tourism 7,107

Flores de Mayo (Flowers of May), a month-long religious celebration in May is a big event for many towns.
Traditionally, it is a way to give thanks to God and to the Virgin Mary for the rains that begin to bless the land and cause the flowers to bloom. Churches are usually filled with flowers in the aisles and alter since people give them as thanksgiving offerings.

The central event of the festival is the Santacruzan (Festival of the Cross), a procession commemmorating St. Helena’s (moher of Constantine the Great) finding the “True Cross” in Jerusalem. It is preceded by a nine-day Novena in honor of the Holy Cross.

On the ninth day, usually on a weekend, the Santacruzan is held. Each of the lovely ladies, with their
handsome escorts, dress up in their best gowns and portray various religious characters in the story. The Reina Elena, accompanied by a little boy representing King Constantine, and the other sagalas walk under beautifully decorated arches.

In 1912, Anna Jarvis created Mother’s day as a day for each family to honor its mother. She trademarked the phrases “second Sunday in May” and “Mother’s Day”, and created the Mother’s Day International Association.

She was specific about the location of the apostrophe; it was to be a singular possessive, for each family to honour their mother, not a plural possessive commemorating all mothers in the world.

On Mother’s Day we honour the woman who nurtures our family, leads us to our first day of school, and shares in each achievement. She is the superwoman of the household.

Make sure you Mom knows how much you love and appreciate her. Make her breakfast in bed, take her out for lunch. Send her a special gift today! Click here.

This Mother’s Day, be sure to treat her extra special.

The Viva Vigan Festival is celebrated every first week of May in the historical town of Vigan,
Ilocos Sur.
The main attraction is a Calesa Parade and Contest. A calesa is a horse-drawn carriage and the much
preferred mode of transportation in Vigan for newcomers and tourist. The parade features 100 calesas
beautifully decorated with indigenous materils like tha Abel Iloko (native handwoven cloth of Vigan),
Burnay (Vigan jars), agricultural products and processed foods like longanisa, bagnet and rice cakes.

There’s also the Binatbatan Street Dancing Contest were dancers wear colorful, innovative costumes
and props. Binatbatan is an Ilocano fold dance. “Batbat” is the first process in making the Iloko
Abel. The street dancing depicts the long standing way the Ilocanos beat the cotton pods with
two bamboo sticks to separate the seeds from the fluff called “batbat”.

Other activities are the ramada games, Santacruzan, religious rituals, food fairs and exhibits.