San Isidro Labrador / Pahiyas Festival in Quezon

Photo from: qouvadis12.deviantart.com

Feast of San Isidro Labrador / Pahiyas Festival (May 11-15). San Isidro is the patron saint of farmers. His feast day is celebrated to give thanks for a bountiful harvest that the farmers had received. With sincerity and flamboyance, the people of Lucban celebrate San Isidro’s feast day with varied festivities all over town, topped by the religious procession along the street where the houses are all decorated with native “pahiyas” (décor) called “kiping,” “suman,, rice cakes, fruits and vegetables, rice grains and rice stalks, beautiful and rare flowers and ferns, native lanterns, even “lechon.”

Photo from: https://theculturetrip.com/asia/philippines/articles/pahiyas-the-philippines-most-colourful-harvest-festival/

Started in the 16th century and celebrated every 15th of May, this festival is an event of this community in honor of San Isidro Labrador for good harvest. The Pahiyas is not Pahiyas without the KIPING, the colorful leaf-like wafers hung in every home along the route of the procession. It is the kiping that makes the Pahiyas so colorful making every visitor gaze in awe at the scene of the long line of houses decorated with kiping in all sorts of sizes, shapes and style.

Kiping is made of rice, thus it is edible when fried or grilled. Food coloring is mixed to produce different colors. After the festival, the kipings are processed to become chips. Read more: http://mygrade7art.blogspot.com/2014/05/pahiyas-festival.html

Photo from: http://www.biyahero.org/pahiyas-festival/

Every May 15, the townsfolk of Lucban, Quezon, don their houses with fruits, vegetables and colorful kiping (a leaf-shaped wafer made of rice and dyed with food coloring) in celebration of the Pahiyas Festival. The word ‘pahiyas’ was derived from the word ‘payas’, which means decoration or to decorate. The reason behind such practice dates back to the 15th century, when farmers used to offer their harvests at the foot of Mount Banahaw. Over time, they brought their farm produce at the church in honor of the town’s patron saint – St. Isidore the Laborer, who is the patron saint of farmers, laborers and peasants. Read More: https://theculturetrip.com/asia/philippines/articles/pahiyas-the-philippines-most-colourful-harvest-festival/

Photo from: http://www.ivanhenares.com/2014/05/pahiyas-festival-in-lucban-quezon-viva.html

Photo from: https://www.islandsofthephilippines.com/2013/07/the-province-of-quezon-whats-in-store-for-travelers/pahiyas-festival-2/

Photo from: https://www.flickr.com/photos/lenareh/1111620155