CAGSAWA FESTIVAL SONG
The Cagsawa Ruins (also spelled as Kagsawa, historically spelled as Cagsaua) are the remnants of a 16th-century Franciscan church, the Cagsawa church. It was originally built in the town of Cagsawa in 1587 but was burned down and destroyed by Dutch pirates in 1636.
The festival commemorates the 1814 catastrophic eruption of Mayon Volcano which buried the Cagsawa church and hundreds of people. To date, the Cagsawa Ruins Park which is one of the popular atractions in Bicol became the center of activities of the week-Iong festivity.
IBALONG FESTIVAL SONG
Ibalon, or Ibalong, is the ancient name of the Bicol Region in the Philippines.
The Ibálong, also known as Handiong or Handyong, is a 60-stanza fragment of a Bicolano full-length folk epic of the Bicol region of the Philippines, based on the Indian Hindu epics Ramayana and Mahabharata. The epic is said to have been narrated in verse form by a native bard called Kadunung.
Today, the festival involves street dancing, parades, and beauty pageants during the third week of August. The Ibalong Festival of Bicol is based on the Ibalong Epic and celebrated in August. People parade wearing masks portraying heroes and villains from the epic as it aims to express warmth and goodwill.