Categories
Oriental Mindoro

Banana Festival

Banana Festival is an annual, week-long agricultural, fruit, and religious festival celebrating and as a form of thanksgiving to the abundance and harvest of banana in the town of Baco in Oriental Mindoro, Philippines. It is observed from March 18 to 19 yearly. As a religious celebration, it is conducted in veneration of the patron saint, St. Joseph.

The event showcases the different varieties of this fruit such as the señorita, latundan, lacatan, and saba. Banana is also featured in Sagingan Festival in Tubod in Lanao del Norte, Banana Festival in Davao del Norte, and Banana Festival in La Castallena in Negros Occidental.

Among the most-awaited festival activities are the serenade (harana), sharing of a local delicacy (lupakan), and dance with lights called pandangguhan. A trade fair is also opened where booths are ornamented with different parts of a banana plant and using indigenous materials. Other events are parades, street dancing competition, beauty pageant, and culinary competition.

How to reach Baco, Oriental Mindoro? From Manila, take a bus bound for Batangas and then take a ferry trip for Calapan City. Once you reached the capital of the province, take a public transport to the town of Baco which is about 20 kilometers away in a trip that would last about thirty to forty minutes.

References

Banana Festival Summary

NameBanana Festival
CelebrationAgriculture, Fruit, Religion
Contact09319509844
CountryPhilippines
DateMarch 19
Duration1 week
Established
Facebookwww.facebook.com
LocationBaco, Oriental Mindoro
OrganizerMunicipal Government of Baco
PatronSt. Joseph
ReligionRoman Catholic
Simultaneous eventPatronal feast of St. Joseph