* TINAGBA FESTIVAL *
Held annually from February 5-11 in the City of Iriga (the City
of more than 30 natural crystal clear springs), the Tinagba
Festival showcases the tradition of offering the first harvests
and coincides with the feast day of Our Lady of Lourdes.
It features a long parade of carabao-drawn colorfully decorated
carts carrying newly harvested crops and fruits. The festival
also features revelers in beautiful decorative costumes who
dance around the city.
Tinagba Festival is derived from the early rituals of the
ancient Bicolanos of offering their first harvest to their
own gods as a form of thanksgiving and to seek favor for
a more bountiful harvest throughout the year. This tradition
dates back to even before the coming of the Spaniards.
Farmers parade in carabao-drawn carts filled with the
best of local produce, these are blessed at mass and
are distributed to the needy.
Bicolano legend tells of a people who lived under
the shadow of a mighty mountain where the gods
were said to reside. Here they spent their years
giving birth, nurturing, planting, harvesting, dying.
They endured the elements, fought wars against
neighboring tribes, and survived the challenges of
a pre-historic existence. But a time came when,
no matter how hard they labored and toiled, the
land refused to yield its fruit. The sun burned and
the dry ground cracked under its glare. In desperation,
the people begged the gods for mercy.