Melo Villareal
Araña’t Baluarte Festival of Gumaca
It was so humid when we left Lucban, Quezon, for the Pahiyas Festival and traveled to another town, Gumaca, to witness yet another colorful festival – The Araña’t Baluarte Festival. Each May 15, the local harvest festival, Arañat Baluarte, takes place here. This is an exciting and incredibly merry feast in honor of a farmer who became a saint in 1622.
Gumaca is an agricultural town, and as such, you can easily see why the celebration of a fellow farmer who made good and became a devoted friend of God would bring so much joy to the people.
San Isidro is the patron saint of farmers and is known for his kindness and mercy towards animals and the poor. Isidore was a farmer who worked for a wealthy patron in Madrid, but he consistently arrived late to work. When the patron explored why he found Isidro praying. While Isidro prayed, angels came to do his work. No wonder farmers love him. Not only that, but he was married to another saint, Santa Maria de la Cabeza.
While human populations have inhabited the area for millennia, the town of Gumaca was founded in 1582 and is located at the foot of the Sierra Madre, at the mouth of the Pipsik River. It is one of the Philippines’ oldest surviving towns. About 60,000 people live here in 59 barangays, and the feast of San Isidro is the most anticipated event in town.
It’s so important that it’s even part of the town’s seal! Along with the Pasinaya (the patron fiesta of San Diego de Alcala on November 12), this is the primary way the people of Gumaca share and preserve their colorful culture.
One thing is for sure. When you work hard, you party hard, and from the looks of it, there are no angels doing the plowing for the folks of Gumaca! This festival lights up the local community with joyous smiles. If you are lucky enough to be visiting, look for the baluarte, or big bamboo arches, which are loaded with seasonal fruits and vegetables, including coconuts, suman, bananas, and other ripe and green fruits grown here.
The food isn’t just for decoration. At 4:00 p.m., a procession winds away, but before that, visitors get to drink fresh buko juice and eat delicious kakanin (rice cakes) under the baluarte. Along the parade route, there are many pabitin hanging from the windows and several beautiful bamboo food arches celebrating the saint. When San Isidro goes under an arch, the arañas and other foods are cut loose, and everyone gathers up the goods.
This is an amazing time to fill your tummy and your grocery bags, with only San Isidro to thank. The locals do so with native songs and dances, as well as plenty of colorful Filipiniana costumes and displays. The festival also features notable attractions such as the 18th-century San Diego Fort and other historical sites.
How to get to Gumaca
Gumaca is 196 km southeast of Manila and can be reached by bus lines from Metro Manila. In addition to these, you can also use vans available at Metro Gaisano and Lucena Grand Central Terminal.
Many thanks to Quezon Provincial Governor David JayJay Suarez for letting us rediscover Quezon’s colorful festivals. For inquiries on Quezon San Isidro Festivals, you may reach the Quezon Provincial Tourism Office at 042-373-75-10 or email tourismquezon@yahoo.com.ph.
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