SEPTEMBER

Penafrancia Festival

Another magnificent festival celebrated in this country is the Penafrancia Festival in Naga on the third weekend of September. This festival is held in honor of Our Lady of Penafrancia, patroness of the Bicol Region, South Luzon.

The religious observance starts nine days before the feast day, that is the second Friday of September. Male devotees carry the statue of one of the most adored Marian images in the Philippines to the Metropolitan Cathedral. Then, a nine-day novena is held before the returning of the statue to her shrine down the Bicol River. Once the statue reaches the river, it is placed carefully aboard a detailed pagoda and rowed down the river by an all-male crew. This pagoda is escorted by canoes, bamboo rafts and brightly decorated motorboats. As nightfall approaches, brightly-lit candles provide light giving a magnificent sight of sparkling jewels in a sea of darkness.