Two new characters of Angono, Rizal’s "higantes" will join this year’s festival on Nov. 17.

Angono, Rizal's two new "higantes" (giants) will join some 200 others in the Higantes Festival 2024 parade -(photo from Angono Municipal Government)

Named as Higante Ayat and Higante Tisya, the two new characters of Angono’s version of mascots will join around 200 other "higantes" during the grand parade of the Higantes Festival 2024.

Kim Joven Vocalan or “Tongge” is the maker of Ayat and Tisya, the two giant mascots which will be “walking” and “swaying” on the streets of Rizal Province’s Art Capital of the Country starting on Nov. 17 during the festival’s grand parade.

Higante maker Kim Joven Vocalan, who belongs to the new generation of higante creators in Angono, is assisted by a fellow artist in attaching the head of "Higante Ayat" (photo by Angono Municipal Government)

Vocalan, 28, who works as a messenger in a bank, told Manila Bulletin that he hopes that his two “giants” will catch the attention of private sponsors which rents the giants to be their official representative to the town’s grandest parade that happens a few days prior to the feast day of Saint Clement the Pope.

(Photo from Angono Municipal Government)

According to tradition, the town’s giant, which has a body traditionally made of bamboo sticks and paper mache, is rented by companies or organizations to become their standard bearer during parades that happen within the festival month.

These giants have a sash which bears either the name of the sponsoring firm or group, a barangay, or individual which they represent.

(File photo by Nel Andrade)

Vocalan said he started making his version of the higante when he was 12 years old, but it was only in 2022 and 2023 that he let his art works join the parade not to be rented out but just to fulfill his dream of seeing his creations “dancing” on the streets of Angono during the Higantes Festival parade.

The office of Mayor Jeri Mae Calderon said the grand parade is an annual tradition in the town as part of the celebration of the feast day of one of the town’s patron saint, Saint Clement the Pope.

Vice Mayor Gerardo Calderon said the town’s giant mascots represent the gigantic achievements of the town in many aspects as well as the representation of the town folks’ accomplishments in their respective fields of endeavor.

(Photo from Angono Municipal Government's social media page)

Around 200 higantes, including “Ayat” and “Tisya,” are expected to fill the streets of the municipality in the early morning of Nov. 17.

Several political and sports personalities have their versions of the "higantes" as created by artists from Angono.

The feast day of St. Clement falls on Nov. 23, Sunday.