Fiestas are ubiquitously celebrated in the Philippines. The country is known for its myriad of colorful festivities, usually in commemoration of feast days of saints. Historically, towns in the Philippines devote at least one day in a year to honor their patron saint. This is a non-working holiday because the people of the town have to go to the church and attend the holy mass. Farmers and elite alike say their prayers to the saint after whom they seek protection for their town, whether it be deadly disease or natural disaster.
The Fiesta is also a syncretic manifestation of how Filipinos espoused both their indigenous belief in animism and the latter imposed Christianism by their Spanish conquerors. The fiesta was used by missionaries as one way of attracting mass converts to Catholicism. Colors, dances and sounds of animism were retained and were infused with saints and banderitas of the colonizer.
Some Filipino values are also vividly shown during fiestas like hospitality and ningas cogon in the form of extravagant spending on fiesta. People in the town embrace relatives or even foreigners from other towns or places for a day or two within the confines of their homes to share in their celebration. Often, they butcher one or more animals like pigs, cows and goats to for their visitors during the fiesta. They also buy new, and sometimes, expensive things like curtains to show their visitors that they really prepare for their fiesta.
Modern fiestas have retained the colors, sounds and dances of the old. However, some modern concepts are introduced due to the impact of mass media and the globalizing world. Throughout the entirety of fiesta today, psychedelic shows are done, various competitions are staged and the long and excessive bragging speeches of local politicians. A week-long celebration is also manifested in big cities and provinces and is usually bejeweled with local and national movie stars.
Fiestas and colorful fiesta banderitas are indeed legacy of the old world our ancestors knew and the modern world we embrace today. You can never find such festivity anywhere in the world. Truly, the sights and sounds of fiestas are what we Filipinos are looking forward to amidst the turmoil and predicaments we are in today.
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