Bohol festivals run all year, but two peaks stand out: the month-long Sandugo Festival in July and the town fiestas that fill the calendar in May. Smaller events honour ubi, music, dance and patron saints from January to December.
For the wider picture of the island, the guide to bohol tourism covers regions, transport and attractions, while this page follows the festival year month by month.
Sandugo Festival: the province’s July celebration
The Sandugo Festival is the best-known of all Bohol festivals. Its name means “one blood”, and it commemorates the treaty of friendship between the Spanish expedition leader Miguel López de Legazpi and the Boholano chieftain Datu Sikatuna. According to the Bohol Provincial Tourism Office, the blood compact occurred on March 16, 1565, when the two men shed blood into a cup and drank the contents in a native ritual. The history behind the event, and the monument that marks it, are covered in the guide to the blood compact shrine.
The celebration did not always take place in July. The same tourism office account explains that it was first held in March and later moved to July, to coincide with Tagbilaran Charter Day on July 1 and Bohol Day on July 22. The July slot also lines up with the Tigum Bol-anon sa Tibuok Kalibutan, a gathering of Boholanos from around the world. The provincial festival calendar for 2020 listed the festival as running from July 1 to July 31 and described its highlights as an agro-industrial fair, a cultural and historical showcase, sports events, a beauty pageant, balls and dances, entertainment shows and street dancing that culminates in the re-enactment of the blood compact.
The street parade is the centrepiece. Per the same account, the main highlights are the parade, a street dancing competition and the re-enactment of the blood compact. Entries come from high schools in Tagbilaran and from municipalities, with guests from other cities and provinces, and the dancers perform choreographed patterns to xylophones, drums and trumpets in bright costumes with banners and flags. Floats join the procession, and one of them usually carries the winners of the Miss Bohol Sandugo pageant.
The festival also has a modern history. The tourism office page credits Constancio Chatto Torralba, who served as governor from April 1975 to June 1992, with giving the festival the attention that made it grow, and says the first celebration under his Sandugo Project succeeded despite limited preparation time. Today the Sandugo sa Bohol page describes colourful street dances, beauty pageants and cultural shows each July, and the tourism office account adds that Tagbilaran stays busy through the month and into August, when tourism reaches its highest peak.
A Bohol festival calendar at a glance
The table below lists the festivals named in the Bohol Provincial Tourism Office calendar, in the order they fall in the year. Every date in the table is from the calendar’s 2020 edition, apart from the Ubi Festival, which is dated to its 2023 edition. Several are tied to feast days or to a weekday of the month, so a municipality can shift a programme from year to year, and the current dates should be checked with the municipality.
| Month | Festival | Place | Date in the 2020 calendar |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | Ubi Festival | Tagbilaran City | January (2023 edition: January 26-30) |
| February | Kasadyaan sa Napo | Napo, Loon | 1st Sunday of February |
| February | Pandayan Festival | Lonoy, Jagna | February 27 |
| May | Tagbilaran City Fiesta | Tagbilaran City | May 1 |
| May | Tanda Festival | Tubigon | May 6-15 |
| May | Bolibong Kingking Festival | Loboc | May 23-24 |
| May | Sinugboan Festival | Garcia Hernandez | May 27 |
| June | Katigbawan Festival | Catigbian | June 17-24 |
| June | Agbunan Festival | San Isidro | June 28 |
| July | Sandugo Festival | Province-wide, Tagbilaran City | July 1-31 |
| August | Hudyaka sa Panglao | Panglao | August 28 |
| August-September | SidlaKasilak (Festival of Lights) | Loon | August 30 – September 8 |
| September | Sinu-og Estokada Festival | Jagna | September 21 |
| December | Sambat Mascara y Regatta Festival | Loay | 1st Saturday of December |
| December-February | Suroy sa Musikero | Loboc | December 25 – February 2 |
Table data: Bohol Provincial Tourism Office, Festival and Events, and the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist report on the 22nd Ubi Festival.
January and February: ubi, the Holy Child and St. Joseph
The year opens with the Ubi Festival in Tagbilaran. The provincial calendar says the festival institutionalises the ubi crop as the agro-historical symbol of Bohol and features an exhibit, an ubi contest, an agri-business investment seminar and a cultural show. In 2023 the provincial government held it on January 26-30 at the Old City Airport in Cogon, Tagbilaran City, and the tourism office announcement lists the varieties on show as Baligonhon, Binanag, Gimnay, Binato, Iniling, Tam-isan, Kabus-ok and the famous Kinampay.
Two village celebrations follow in February. Kasadyaan sa Napo, listed in the 2020 calendar for the first Sunday of February in Napo, Loon, is a thanksgiving to the Holy Child, and its main feature is a street dancing competition between household clusters that ends with a sinulog to the Santo Niño. The 2020 calendar entry describes it as a prelude to the barangay fiesta on May 25. The same calendar listed the Pandayan Festival in Lonoy, Jagna for February 27, celebrating the parochial anniversary of the St. Joseph the Worker Parish, with a novena, a procession, a carpentry and handicrafts fair, a basketball tournament and street dancing.
May, the month of town fiestas
May is the fiesta month. The dates in this section come from the province’s 2020 festival calendar and may have changed since. The 2020 calendar says that the feast of Saint Joseph, patron saint of Tagbilaran City, on May 1 starts the month-long fiestas in Bohol, and that a town or barrio celebrates a fiesta each day through May in honour of its patron saint, with plenty of food and merriment.
Several May events carry their own festival names. The 2020 calendar listed the Tanda Festival in Tubigon for May 6-15, in honour of San Isidro Labrador, and named as highlights the Bulong-Imang street dancing and showdown, the Anyag sa Tubigon beauty pageant and an agro-technological fair. In Loboc, the Bolibong Kingking Festival, listed for May 23-24, is a religious musical fair where drums and gongs are played in rhythm, and it is tied to belief in the patron, Our Lady of Guadalupe. The Sinugboan Festival in Garcia Hernandez, listed for May 27, marks the town’s foundation day with an agro-industrial fair, a recognition programme and a street dancing competition whose story follows the creation of the town.
June to September: harvests, music and lights
Mid-year festivals lean towards farming and local identity, and the dates below are those of the 2020 edition of the calendar. According to the 2020 provincial listing, the Katigbawan Festival in Catigbian was set for June 17-24 and brought carabao-racing, hog-catching, an agrofair, motocross and a search for Miss Katigbawan. The same listing gave June 28 for the Agbunan Festival in San Isidro, which shows the culture and traditions of the town through a street-dancing showdown and displays of organic farm products from the barangays.
The calendar then moves to the coast. The 2020 listing gave August 28 for the Hudyaka sa Panglao, held on the grounds of the parish church, where the ten barangays of the municipality compete in dance. The same entry says the festival brings back former residents from around the world and stretches over nine days. The 2020 listing then shows the SidlaKasilak or Festival of Lights in Loon starting on August 30 and ending on September 8, honouring Our Lady of Light, with a fluvial procession, street dancing and a dance of lights competition that uses light in every contest. It was inspired by earlier processions in which the faithful carried candles in hand-held lanterns called parow.
In Jagna the Sinu-og Estokada Festival, listed in the 2020 calendar for September 21, honours the patron saint, Saint Michael the Archangel, whose feast day falls on September 29. Two groups, one from barangay Mayana and one from Cabungaan, perform a native war dance during the vesper procession and the fluvial procession, depicting a battle between early Jagnaanon Christians and invading Muslims from Mindanao.
December: Loay, Loboc and Christmas
The year closes with music and water. The Sambat Mascara y Regatta Festival in Loay was listed in the 2020 calendar for the first Saturday of December, for the town’s second patron, St. Francis Xavier, with an agro-industrial fair, masked street dancing, a drum and bugle competition, boat racing along the river and a fluvial parade of the image. Across the province, KASADYA! Pasko sa Bohol presents Boholano culture and traditions at Christmas, according to the tourism calendar. Suroy sa Musikero, a festival of food and Christmas songs, was listed there from December 25 to February 2 and sends the town musicians of Loboc around assigned areas to share the food served by each host and play tunes such as Kuradang.
Planning a trip around a festival
Festival days are busy days, so the choice of base matters. The guide on where to stay in bohol compares Tagbilaran, Panglao and the countryside, which helps when a trip is built around the July parade or a town fiesta. Tagbilaran stays busy through the whole Sandugo month, so the base is worth settling early.
Dates and programmes are set by each municipality and the provincial government, and they move more often than the fixed feast days suggest. The month-by-month dates on this page come from the 2020 calendar, so confirm the current year’s dates with the municipality or the provincial tourism office before planning travel around them. The Sandugo programme is run through the provincial tourism and culture offices, and the Sandugo sa Bohol page carries their contact details. For a town fiesta, the municipal government and the parish are the sources for the day’s schedule. Daily heat, rain and storm patterns also shape a festival trip, and the seasons are laid out in the guide to the best time to visit Bohol.
Frequently asked questions
When is the biggest festival in Bohol?
The Sandugo Festival in July is the province’s major celebration. The provincial calendar for 2020 listed it as running from July 1 to July 31; check the current year’s programme with the tourism office.
What does Sandugo mean?
Sandugo means “one blood”. The festival commemorates the blood compact between Datu Sikatuna and Miguel López de Legazpi, which the tourism office dates to March 16, 1565.
Which month has the most fiestas?
May. The 2020 calendar says towns and barrios hold a fiesta for their patron saint each day of the month, starting with Tagbilaran City on May 1.
Is there a festival connected to ubi?
Yes. The Ubi Festival in Tagbilaran is held each January, and in 2023 it ran on January 26-30 with exhibits of ubi varieties including Kinampay.
Are the festival dates fixed?
Some are tied to a feast day, such as May 27 for Garcia Hernandez in the 2020 calendar, while others use a weekday, such as the first Saturday of December in Loay. Programmes can change, so the organising municipality is the reliable source for each year.
