Bicol Region's biggest celebration is an annual affair that combines religion with culture and tradition, packing it all in a 9-day fiesta of biblical proportions. Stay until sundown for stirring climax: the fluvial parade as it makes its way down the river, surrounded by a sea of glowing candles - a fitting end of this truly spiritual occasion.
Our Lady of Peñafrancia Though many thousands of devotees come from different parts of the Bicol Region and the country to attend the annual pintakasi, the origin of the Holy Image is not altogether known. It is a mystery to a great many, especially the youth.
The feast of Our Lady of Peñafrancia is celebrated on the third Saturday of September in Naga City, Bicol Philippines. All roads and routes will lead to Naga City in Camarines Sur where six million Bicolanos from here and abroad will flock to that progressive city to pay honor to the Virgin of Peñafrancia, miraculous patroness of the Bicol Region. Bicolanos from all walks of life will be in Naga City to meet their relatives and partidarios, share food, drinks, and prayers with them, and most of all, to pay homage and make thanksgiving to the Virgin of Peñafrancia, whom the Bicolanos fondly call Ina. Viva la Virgen, they will shout to high heavens.
[PDF] Peñafrancia Celebration the devotees shout "Viva la Virgen" (Long live the Virgin!) and the image is carried back in a ... Amongst triumphant sounding shouts of Viva la Virgen , ...
Viva La Virgen! (ClickTheCity.com) The Peñafrancia Festival is considered the biggest Marian pageant in the Philippines. The religious observance begins on the second Friday of September, or nine days before the actual feast day, when the Virgin is carried from her shrine to the City’s cathedral where she reigns in solemn splendor for the duration of the novena.
Peñafrancia Festival
The feast of Our Lady of Peñafrancia is celebrated on the third Saturday of September in Naga City, Bicol. The feast day is preceded by a novena, nine days of prayer, in honor of the Virgin. On the first day, the image of the Virgin, a copy of the Madonna in Peñafrancia, Spain, is brought from its shrine to the Naga Cathedral where the novena is held. On the last day, the image is returned to her shrine following the Naga River route. The colorful evening procession is lit by thousands of candles from devotees in boats escorting the image. When the barge reaches its destination, the devotees shout "Viva la Virgen" (Long live the Virgin!) and the image is brought back in a procession to the cathedral.
