PILI FESTIVAL
The Pili Festival is celebrated in honor of the Pili Tree referred to as “The Majestic Tree”. It is an annual festival in Sorsogon City commemorating the City’s fiesta. The festival emphasizes the importance of the pili products such as pili tarts, pili candies, accessories made of pili and beauty products such as hair oil and perfume.
The Pili Festival honors the feast day of Sts. Peter and Paul, patrons of Sorsogon. It is held during the 28th to 29th of June.
The Street Dance, one of the main attraction and event in the festival in which Sorsoganons dance their hearts out. The participants are all Sorsogonon and the costumes are all colorful and inspired by the product itself. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the festival was put on hold for the safety of Sorsoganons and all the tourists. Usually, there is a Pili Festival Street Dance Competition where schools and organizations compete for the prize. The street dance choreography incorporates how the pili grows and how it is harvested and cooked.
kASANGGAYAHAN FESTIVAL
Sorsogon is known as the “Land of Kasanggayahan” or Land of Prosperity. Kasanggayahan Festival, held every October, is a month-long celebration of the whole province of Sorsogon. It commemorates the declaration of Sorsogon as a province.
A bunch of events and activities is done during the celebration approved and led by the current Governor Francis Joseph “Chiz” Escudero” with the tagline “Kada Sorsoganon, Magdanon.” Because of the pandemic, the recent Kasanggayahan Festival that was held in 2019. Sorsogon City was crowded with thousands of people from different municipalities of Sorsogon. There were also tourists from different provinces and countries as they wanted to experience the bliss in Sorsogon. Events and activities were held in different municipalities in Sorsogon depending on what type or area and environment is needed in the activities.
One of the highlight of Kasanggayahan Festival 2019 was the Pantomina sa Tinampo. Pantomina is a Bicolano courtship dance. The dancers lined from Fatima Church to Bulwagan, and Rompeolas Baywalk in Sorsogon City. It was a memorable day for the Sorsoganons and the province itself because it set the Guinness World Record for the Largest Filipino Folk Dance. A total of 7, 127 Sorsoganons performed the dance, including Governor Chiz Escudero and his wife, Love Marie O. Escudero. Swapnil Dangarikar of India, an official adjudicator of Guinness World Records physically handed the award to the Governor.