Magayon Festival: A Fiesta that Originated from a Tragic Love Affair

     The Mayon Volcano in the province of Albay in the Bicol Region is a famous tourist landmark in the Philippines and is the most active volcano in the country, with over 50 eruptions in the past 400 years. The 2,463-meter high Mayon is a classified as a composite volcano whose symmetric cone came about from alternate pyroclastic and  lava flows. It is part of the Pacific Ring of Fire of volcanoes in the Pacific Ocean and is a nominee in the New 7 Wonders of Nature competition.[1]

     The Magayon Festival is a reliving of the folk legend of Mayon Volcano that is held annually in Albay in May. According to folklore, Mayon rose from the grave of Daragang Magayon, literally meaning beautiful maiden, a beautiful princess named Magayon who was in love with Panganoron but was forced into a wedding with the spurned suitor, Paratuga. When Pangaronon appeared during the ceremony, Magayon rushed towards him but was killed, and so was Panganoron when he lifted her body. The lovers were buried together with all her possessions including the wedding gifts, and the burial mound continuously rose over time and eventually transformed into the volcano.[2]

     People from the province believe that the spirit of Paratuga causes the occasional eruption of the volcano, which is due to his desire to exhume Magayon’s grave and force out all of the precious metals and stones that was given to her as wedding gifts.  On the other hand, the spirit of Panganoron is seen as wandering  above the volcano’s peak in the form of clouds, that usually disperse into raindrops as if grieving for the death of the loved one, and also keeping the vegetation on the volcano’s slopes fresh all the year round.[3]

     The Magayon Festival is a feast with its own identity that celebrates life and its abundance and blessings, and blends Catholic beliefs with traditional ways of living in Albay. Activities lined up for the event typically include cultural showcases, trade fairs, travel and tourism exhibits and sports contests. A regional cooking competition, with categories for students, homemakers and professional chefs and focusing on creative dishes that use native Bicol produce like coconut, pili and hot pepper, is held on May 13-15. The festivities also feature a Mayon Marathon, an eco-camp activity at Mayon Volcano National Park for the youth, and a hiking activity for young people with the Bicol Federation of Mountaineers to make them aware of the environment. Songwriting and chorale competitions and the Search for Mutya ng Magayon and the Mr & Ms Bikini Summit also take place. The Magayon festival promotes tourism in Albay, which also has fine beaches, diving and snorkeling locations, historical Spanish-era churches and sites and ancestral houses.[4]

     The 15^th Magayon Festival was held in Legazpi City, Albay in April 2011 and was led by Albay Governor Joey Sarte Salceda and the Department of Tourism Region V. The majestic Mayon Volcano served as the postcard-perfect backdrop anywhere one turns to in Legazpi City, and one is filled with awe when such a presence of belligerence and beauty is viewed for the first time.[5]

     Gov. Salceda opened the festival on April 1 at the Penaranda Park, which had the Silyab sa Magayon” fireworks display and the “Concierto sa Magayon” concert with comic host Ate Shawie and the 6 Cycle Mind band. The Mutya ng Magayon pageant night, the 9^th Gayon Bicol Festival of Festivals Showdown and the 2011 Magayon Mr. & Ms. Bikini Fashionista attracted huge crowds.[6]

     Senator  Antonio Trillanes visited his hometown in Albay in time for the month-long festival and also consulted with local officials and his constituents. This is the senator’s first visit to Bicolandia since coming out from detention in December 2010, where he spoke at the cultural celebration and led the Samahang Magdalo convention in Legazpi City, which had at least 15 chapters from the region.[7]

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[1] “Mayon Volcano”, WikiPilipinas, 4 March 2010, <http://en.wikipilipinas.org/index.php?title=Mount_Mayon> [accessed 26 May 2011]

[2] “Magayon Festival 2011: Rediscovering Albay” Pinoy on Board, 2011,

<http://www.pinoyonboard.com/english/127-magayon-festival-2011-rediscovering-albay> 

[accessed 26 May 2011]

[3] Anastacio C. Canciller, “The Legend of Mount Mayon”, Magayon Festival 2010, 13 September 2007, <http://magayonfestival.albay.gov.ph/legend%20of%20mt%20mayon.html>  [accessed 26 May 2011]

[4] “Magayon Festival – A Celebration of Life and Its Abundance of Blessings”, PhilippineFiestas.com,

23 June 2009, <http://www.philippinefiestas.com/tag/magayon-festival/>  [accessed 26 May 2011]

[5] Reinerio A. Alba, “Magayon Festival” mb.com.ph, 22 May 2011,

<http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/319342/magayon-festival>  [accessed 26 May 2011]

[6] ibid

[7] “Trillanes Graces 15^th Magayon Festival”, Senate of the Philippines, 1 April 2011, <http://www.senate.gov.ph/press_release/2011/0401_trillanes1.asp>  [accessed 26 May 2011]

A Kaleidoscopic Festival: The Magayon Festival

            The Philippines is known for its very colorful festivals that happen the whole year round at different spots of the country. Most often, festivals are a way for us Filipinos to thank God for all the things that he had made our place abundant of, to enjoy, and also to showcase the beauty and talent of our places.

            Magayon festival, which is celebrated in the province of Albay at the moment, is one of our nation’s pride. Guests and visitors from different parts of the Philippines and all over the the world seek to see the colorful costumes of the participants in the street dancing, and the rest of the events in the festival. Magayon festival is celebrated on May 4 to May 30 by the Bicolanos in the province of Albay. It is a whole month round celebration of richness and abundance.

            This year, the Magayon Festival 2011 has already started, making a big leap amid all the tests that the province experienced. Magayon fiesta, unlike all other festivals that centers its celebration on praising and glorifying their Catholic patronage, most commonly their parochial patron, Magayon festival celebrates for everything that makes Bicolanos lives rich, abundant, and optimistic. They include their strong Catholic roots in the celebration by opening the month-long celebration with a Holy Mass and showcasing the traditional Catholic “Santacruzan”; it showcases talents from the different parts of the province, and with brilliant lights, fireworks and other different events during the evening and colorful street-dancers during the day.

Magayon festival is a celebration of the beautiful the legend of Mayon volcano. It was said that there was never a perfect cone volcano in the long past - that is the Mayon volcano. The place where the Mt Mayon towers right now was a village where beautiful maidens and brave warriors live. And because of a tragic story of the daragas (Bicolano for ‘maidens’), there rose the magnificent Mt. Mayon.

Magayon festival, though very colorful and blissful when you’ve happened to see it had actually undergone a lot of struggles. Although it was begun in the late 90’s and still exists upto these days, it was tested by the leadership of the succeeding governors, having different concentrations, and also by the calamities that the province had encountered, especially the cruel typhoon “Reming”. There came an instance that the Magayon festival was not the priority of the leaders because his programs did not focus on tourism but on the development on infrastructures and financial supervision to the different barangays of the province, hence the festival went lie low. On 2006, Reming struck Bicol region, leaving the agricultural areas devastated and many people were killed. Bicolanos faced a dreadful incident which made it harder for them to continue the celebration that they all started with pride.

But, now they are once again happily celebrating it. After years of restoration and hopeful attitude, the people of Albay are now back in track, celebrating the richness, abundance, and beauty that are all a result of their hopeful attitude. They did not stop in pursuing the festival that had once bound them as one, having one dream and one happiness.

Even if someone has not seen personally the wonders of the festival, having been into the place makes him or her realize how great the people are and Mt. Mayon is. The place is simple yet proud of what it has to offer. A lot of visitors come to the place even for a day or two just to see the magnificent figure of the reason of their celebration – Mt. Mayon. The people in Albay are very much hospitable both to the foreigners and their fellow Filipinos. The local language depicts the difference between the tourists and the locals but, it was never a hindrance for them to entertain the visitors in their place. Everyone is always welcome.

It’s not only the place and the people that are the pride of the festival, but also the unity in it. There are competitions during the whole month of May, but you would never see them like competing. The people are more of making effort in order to show the best that they have in order to entertain their guests and other viewers of the events. With their unity and the leadership of the place, it’s always been a success in the end. The winners come out in victory, and the losers act so sports about. Besides, they never looked like losers in their performance, they all seem like winners, holding wide smiles, wearing colorful costumes and dancing so gracefully, they all seem so happy and full of hope.

As Filipinos, it was never a wonder why we manage to smile amidst all the struggles we might have met, do meet, and are about to meet. We have a heart that we can always be proud of, a strong heart that never stops beating and does not get drowned and damaged against all the calamities that we encounter. Instead, those instances in our lives make us stronger emotionally and have an indestructible faith. For us, not only festivals are kaleidoscopic, but also life is a kaleidoscope, life has bits of colors that change patterns continually, at times it may go darker, but it always has some point in time that it goes brighter.

Kudos to the Magayon Festival! It’s such a symbol of unity and hope that made them rising again. After all, the reason for a tragic yet beautiful legend that is the Mayon volcano still rises and invites people from different parts of the world, always making them one.