Pandanyag Festival- La Libertad

Negros Oriental

Pandanyag Festival is an annual celebration held during the last week of April here in La Libertad, Negros Oriental. Grateful for the bountiful harvest of crops, bananas, pandan and other agricultural products, the celebration of Pandanyag Festival makes La Libertad an even more colorful place to visit. Booths and other local shops are being open to exhibit their best pandan weaved products such as baskets, mats, hats, wall decors and more.

The Pandanyag Festival came from a derivation of two dialect word which is “Pandan”, the kind of leaves made for weaving, and “Maanyag” meaning bountiful. Due to good harvest of pandan leaves in La Libertad, locals are making their way in selling these craft goods to not only fellow Libertadnons but to guests as well.

Some of the many events celebrated in the Pandanyag Festival is the search for the Miss La Libertad, wherein the beauty and wits battle their way for the crown and the title, and of course the Kite Festival. Kites bigger than a human and shaped in various animals, signs and forms are being flown in to the air for all to see during the Pandanyag Festival. Since kite festivals aren’t always a thing in other places here in the Philippines, the Kite Festival in La Libertad will surely be an exciting and surprising event to look forward to during the Pandanyag Festival.

Another event one can look forward to includes Traditional Games wherein locals from all barangays just gather in the town square to have a good time in all forms of sportsmanship. Games includes: piglet catching, horse racing, pole climbing, tag of war and carabao racing. In the spirit of hospitality and generosity, locals in La Libertad will even invite you to their house to eat in during the City Fiesta after Pandanyag Festival. Fiesta in La Libertad, or all over the Philippines, are just great because you get to eat Fiesta food from one house to the other.