More than a hundred well-decorated pagodas (boats) brought color to Calumpit River during the "Libad Festival 2023" on Friday, June 23, a day before the annual town fiesta in honor of St. John the Baptist in Calumpit, Bulacan.
Thousands of people, including visitors from nearby provinces, enjoyed watching the fluvial procession that started after Calumpit Vice Mayor Zar Candelaria raised an orange cloth signaling the participants to sail their boats.
Calumpit Mayor Lem Faustino also joined the festival and distributed food and bottled water to all boat passengers and drivers.
FLUVIAL PARADE--Thousands of people, including visitors from nearby provinces of Pampanga and Nueva Ecija, join the 'Libad Festival', one of the popular tourist attractions in the province of Bulacan in honor of St John the Baptist, the local patron saint of the San Juan Bautista Church in Calumpit, on Friday, June 23, 2023. (Photo courtesy of Marcel Bayan/MANILA BULLETIN)
Faustino said each village of the town participates in the "Libad Festival" every year. They sing, dance and douse water to "baptize" passersby to remember the saint's characteristic act.
Also present during the said religious occasions were Bulacan First District Representative Danilo A. Domingo and Didis Domingo; Calumpit Councilors Thelma Dansalan, Lycu Diego, Jojo Pagdanganan, Agnes Pangan, Mau Torres (tourism committee,chairman), and Maeng Lopena; and village chief Ogie Reyes of Barangay Longos.
About 100 policemen in the town were deployed to maintain peace and order. One policeman was also assigned to every boat that participated in the festival.
Libad Festival is one of the popular tourist attractions in Bulacan in honor of John the Baptist, the local patron saint of the San Juan Bautista Church in the municipality, one of the oldest churches in the province of Bulacan.