* 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.