Every October of each year, the Kasanggayahan Festival is celebrated in Sorsogon in commemoration of its foundation as a Province. It is a province-wide festival, with the center of activities in Sorsogon City.

Kasanggayahan is an old Bikol word, the meaning of which can be gleaned from this short verse:

"When the fields are green
and the grains are golden;
when the machines work well
and all business prosper;
when the birds in the sky chirp freely
and men on earth are peacefully happy;
in Bikol, it is KASANGGAYAHAN,
meaning, a life of prosperity.?

 

The Kasanggayahan Festival, which is listed by the Department of Tourism as one of the annual Philippine Festivals, is celebrated with a series of cultural, historical, religious, agro-industrial and economic activities, showcasing Sorsogon?s abundant agricultural products, particularly food and decorative items from the versatile Pili tree, which is indigenous to the province.

PILI FESTIVAL

Sorsogon City?s premier annual festival is the Pili Festival which also coincides with the City?s traditional patronal fiesta, June 28-29, in honor of its patron saints, St. Peter and St. Paul.

 

The Festival showcases the Pili Tree, which is indigenous to Sorsogon, and known hereabouts as ?The Majestic Tree? because of its many industrial, commercial, and nutritional uses ? from its roots, trunk, branches, leaves, sap and fruit. Appropriately costumed young people dance down the streets of the City during the Festival, demonstrating in dance, the many uses of this remarkable tree.

During the Pili street dance, which highlights the weeklong Festival, the costumed dancers move to the rhythmic, hypnotic beat of native percussion instruments. click more here...