Malagnang Festival

As we extended our stay with Roberto, we had the luck to witness something very special - the Malagnang Festival. 

'The most important event in San Vincente is the Malagnang Festival, which celebrates the city's heritage and fertile land, on which the first inhabitants thrived. This annual festival is organized by the Barangay government and promotes a sense of community spirit.' (source: https://www.mayoclinic.org).

The festival started yesterday morning at seven o'clock with a parade. Right before seven, we were standing at the roadside with many excited locals. The anticipation was huge! The parade started one hour later than planned, as we later learned, which is quite common. The locals call this delay 'Filipino Time' and take it with a lot of humor. Whether young or old, the atmosphere was cheerful. The school children were also allowed to participate in this spectacle. People of all ages were happy and very lively. The parade consisted of many marching groups in colorful costumes. There were also several drum groups and beautiful float cars. Each department of the hospital and other county facilities and organizations were represented as well. 

The festival lasts for three days and starts early in the morning each day. There is almost an hourly highlight. These highlights often take place in the mud. For this purpose, a large area was specially prepared (the port). It rained enough in the days before the festival. If this is not the case, the local fire department comes and helps transform the area into mud. It's so beautiful to see how everything works together here and how people collaborate!

Last night there was a fireworks display. Of course, we didn't want to miss that either. The many shining eyes and radiant faces of people of all ages were priceless! Moreover, with each rocket that was launched and illuminated the sky with colorful lights, there were joyful 'ah' and 'oh' exclamations. 

After the fireworks, we had dinner. We coincidentally ended up in a large group of locals celebrating a birthday. We were welcomed in the city and received recommendations for dinner. So we ordered 'Lomi' without knowing what it was - a large pot of soup with spaghetti 😂. After dinner, we strolled through the festival area and then went back to the hotel.

Back at the hotel, we were greeted by Roberto's 'Girls' and June, the cook, and invited to dance and celebrate with them at the festival. So, back again!  😁🕺💃We had a great evening! Unfortunately, the party was on 'Filipino Time' again... 

Today we got up early again and went to the festival before breakfast. It is worth mentioning that the way there is very short and the ride costs 80 cents for both of us. Unfortunately, the highlight we wanted to see, a water buffalo race, was two hours later than planned. But we were only one hour 'late'. We thought we would adapt to 'Filipino Time', but we still need to practice 😂😂😂. Instead, we saw the motocross race and 'Mud Volleyball'. 

Tomorrow, we also want to get up early to watch a boat race. We are very excited... also about when it starts. It is scheduled for 8:00 am, but 'Filipino Time'... 🤣