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The Sandugo Festival is an annual celebration in the province of Bohol. It commemorates the blood compact between Datu Sikatuna, a local chieftain and Captain Miguel Lopez de Legaspi, Spanish explorer and colonizer. The Sandugo or Blood Compact which occured on March 16, 1565, symbolizes and seals their friendship and peace treaty.

The festivities start in March while the tribal street dance competitions begins in July to coincide with the
“Tigum Bol-anon Tibuok Kalibutan” (The People of Bohol) festival. It includes the re-anactment of the
blood compact, religious mass and street parade and dancing and search for the Miss Bohol.

The street dance competition which is the highlight of the festival is held in Tagbilaran City. Each group
creates its own dance with special colorful costumes and lively choreography.

The Pintados-Kasadyaan Festival is a merry-making event in Tacloban City, Leyte. It starts on June 29, the feast day of Senor Santo Nino, and lasts for a whole month.

Pintados is the name of native warriors who were tattooed as marks of courage, either from fighting or from surviving its arduous process. While Kasadyaan means merriment and jollity in Visaya.

The higlights of the festival are Leyte Kasadyaan Festival of Festivals, Pintados Festival Ritual Dance Presentation and the “Pagrayha” Grand Parade. The festive dancers fill the streets of Tacloban City. They are painted from head to toe with designs that look like armor to resemble the tattooed warriors of old.

The festival showcases the rich and colorful cultural heritage and history of Leyte and Samar.

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.