The Big Day!
On the big day itself, after the Thanksgiving Mass, the celebration is taken on the streets. Lines are form and the parade begins with the drum and bugle corps leading the pack. These musicians bangs away at their drums, blows loudly into their trumpets and pounds their lyres creating a deafening but harmonious marching tone which heralds the occasion.
You will probably see the hermana mayor and the hermano mayor right after the drum and bugle corps, alongside the town officials. The Hermana and hermano mayor are the punong-abala, the chairman of the fiesta. Usually affluent ones are selected for this role because they are expected to sponsor most of the expenses for the church activities and have a handaan fit for a king.
If you want mabusog ng sobra, find out who the Hermana is and go visit their house which is open to everyone and food is in great abundance during this time.
Now if your family has at one point in time served as the hermana/hermano, all I can say is WOW! Hanep! =)
Another common thing during a Filipino fiesta celebration is that many will bring out their home karaoke system outside in the yard where it can blast to kingdom come. Codes of popular songs are listed on tiny sheets of paper so when the tropa comes, the numbers are ready for encoding and you can right away sing to your heart’s content. Others have memorized the numbers of their favorite karaoke songs so there is no need to list it hehehe.
There is no escaping listening to people belt out old classics like “My Way”, “Delilah”, “Lonely table just for one….”, “Dancing Queen”, Air Supply greatest hits to more karaoke top favorites like “Zombie”, “Power of Love”, The Corrs “Breathless” and “Runaway” to OPM hits like “Mr Suave”, “Hawak Kamay”, “Bakit Ngayon Ka Lang” etc.
Finally, when alcohol takes its toll, Bon Jovi songs take over with ‘Livin on a Prayer’ and ‘Blaze of Glory’ at the front line. Hehehehe =)
Warning: Singing ‘My Way’ by Frank Sinatra is hazardous for your health. If you are a Filipino, you know why. Sing at your own risk. Lol.
Food and More Food
Households usually wake up early, preparing food and everything for the invited as well as the surprise guests and visitors. Some foods are prepared the previous night like lumpia which one needs only to fry on fiesta day, the salads like buko pandan and fruits are also prepared early so it has enough time to set.
Livestock which are specifically grown for this occasion are slaughtered and prepared at the break of dawn.
Growing up when there were still unused lots in our compound, I remember my uncle mando raising pigs intended for the celebration. =)
Bring in the Lechon!
For the lucky ones, they will have lechon slowly roasting in the backyard attended to by the manongs and older guys in the family. Usually there will be kids in the sideline who can’t take their eyes off the lechon and will wait until the skin turn to crispy perfection even if it becomes too hot near the pit.
Some can’t resist and will even beg to try his hand at turning the lechon 🙂
Traditional handaan in small towns does not hire the services of a caterer, despite this the “must do things” are accomplish because everyone helps and pitches in from cleaning the house to preparing the giant kawas and silverwares, to the actual cooking.
Chopping, cutting, pounding, snipping, scampering becomes norm.
Imagine chaos, happy chaos.
Family effort: Sama-sama pagbalot ng lumpia 
Popular fiesta dishes are laid out on the table – from the rolls of embutido, the bowlful of menudo, the crispy lumpia shanghai, the favorite humba or adobo, the grilled fish and pork, the sweet and sour fish, the shiny lechon baboy, the desserts of buko salad, gulaman na pula, biko, suman atbp!
Bonding and Camaraderie
Admittedly food is a major draw for this celebration. But I think more than the food and all the religious and secular activities of the town; it is the promise of reconnecting and bonding with your friends and family that makes fiesta such an important tradition in the Philippines, especially in the rural communities.
For those of you who like my Lola yearn to visit their hometown again in time for fiesta, I hope during this year’s celebration or the next one, you’ll make it back.
Happy Fiesta to those who are celebrating them soon! =) Malipayong Pyesta!!!
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