THE MORIONES FESTIVAL 2009

The Moriones Festival is said to be one of the most colorful festivals in the Philippines. I've read about this festival ever since my Philippine history teachers taught us in grade school about the strange tradition of the people from Marinduque to parade all over the province with their self-made creative and uber-iridiscent costumes, depicting the Roman soldiers who persecuted Christ. It was said that the story that the Moriones portray is that of Longinus, the Roman soldier who became a convert after he was cured of his blindness by the blood of Christ which spilled over his eyes upon piercing the savior's torso.

The week-long Lenten season is said to be the high point of the Marinduquenos annual celebration of the Moriones Festival.

Being a native of Pampanga, a province that also features uncommon practices during Lenten season, mainly involving flagellants whipping themselves for their acts of penitence, I have always been curious about the Moriones Festival. So two weeks ago, when I found out that I won't have time other than the Holy Week to go on a vacation, I resolved to finally witness the Moriones Festival myself. 

Initially, I invited three friends who were my co-teachers; but for some reason, they cancelled, and I thought I would be going alone to the said festival. Good thing, I announced in my facebook account that I was looking for a traveling buddy to go with me to Marinduque. Fortunately enough, my Photography 101 student, Myles, was enthusiastic about the trip.

We bought the tickets and left for Marinduque on Holy Monday (April 6). We spent a lot of time going to the beaches of the province in the next few days, and on Holy Thursday, which is a National Holiday in the Philippines, we went on to see the famous festival. 

And man, we were just blown away by the strangeness and beauty of the parades.

It was really cool to see so many adults (both male and female) and even small children wear costumes to keep the tradition alive. Many of the costumes were really varied because they try to follow certain themes for every year in order for them to win in the costume contest also held during the festival season.

Contrary to what I thought of, the masks are actually made of wood. They are very heavy and I really felt that wearing those masks AND costumes can really feel like act of penitence! Haha!

I took hundreds of pictures and my skin was so tanned after the entire thing. But traveling hours from Metro Manila was so worth it after seeing this extraordinary festival.

I will definitely look forward to coming back for more Moriones in years to come. :)