Balayan Parada ng Lechon

Parada ng Lechon in Balayan, Batangas is one of the Philippine festivals attracting a huge number of local and foreign participants. This is one of the most celebrated events in the province and has been a trademark of the people of Balayan for so many years.

Here are a few details on this unique celebration.

Storm or no storm, the Lechon Parade goes on…

The feast of St. John the Baptist is celebrated on the 24th day of June. In Balayan, Batangas, this special day is popularly known as “San Juan”, connoting the colorfully wet celebration which culminates in an event called “PARADA NG LECHON”, a parade of mouth-watering, red-crisp, roasted pigs — marked as a red-letter day in the Tourism calendar.
The Christian rite of baptism involves dousing with water, so did the practice of water-splashing begin from the time the traditional parade of roasted pigs commenced. It reportedly started in the year 1906 as an act of thanksgiving of families grateful for the bounties of the year past who used to parade a lechon during the feast of St. John the Baptist. This act of veneration hinges on the belief that they would receive more blessings in the year to come. In those days, they would all troop to the beach, swimming and water-splashing after the lechon parade.

 According to Vice Mayor Meldos Castelo, this year’s Hermandad president and chairman of the “Parada” organizing committee, it was customary to have a volunteer “Hermano Mayor” who oversees the traditional novena in veneration of their patron saint, Santo San Juan Bautista (the original image of which is under the care of the Garcia-Ortiz family at its “sanctuario” located in Concordia corner Caoibes Sts. at the western section of the poblacion). The devotion starts with the “dapit” on June 14, an announcement which heralds the celebration and corresponding activities for the coming festivity, followed by the “novena” or nine-day vigil-prayer (June 15-23) held at the “tuklong” (chapel), and culminates on the feast day of St. John the Baptist with the holy mass celebrated in the morning of June 24 at the church of the Immaculate Conception Parish, after which the “Parada ng Lechon” begins.
As related by Vice Meldos, this year’s celebration has no individual Hermano Mayor who traditionally handles full oversight responsibility of all related activities, hence the community’s elders and barangay leaders decided to pool their efforts to take charge of the Hermano’s functions. It turned out to be a fruitful collaboration as everything went on smoothly from the preparatory programs up to the actual feast day.
With everyone’s wish to make this year the longest and grandest parada celebration ever, even the threat of an incoming typhoon did not affect the projected revelry. With about 212 groups signifying their intention to join the lechon parade, the organizers safely accounted for a record turn-out of not less than 200 roasted pigs displayed around the traditional route on a much shorter time, thanks to a careful planning and evaluation of past experiences which all the more heightened the commemoration of fifty (50) “funtastic” years of the Hermandad as well as the Parada ng Lechon.

Highlighting its impact on tourism is the evolution of the festivity into a two-week event, participated in by small and big business groups, various socio-civic organizations as well as the LGUs, and chronicled by both local and international media. It has thus, turned out into one of the country’s most lavish, unique and well-attended fiesta celebrations held every 24th day of June.

The roster of activities include off-road bike challenge, the mechanical bull-riding challenge, beer-drinking contests, battle of the bands, and the much vaunted parade of lechons during the actual feast day after which the mammoth crowd spills over into respective street parties around the town.

This year’s parade featured around 200 roasted pigs dressed up in various outfits depending on the groups they represent. Some are featured as folk dancers, others in costumes showcasing the town’s academic, business and medical institutions, propped up in colorful platforms or vehicles. Favorite crowd-pleasers are the lechon-zorro, the trike-rider, a masked swine-flu conscious lechon, and a singing diva lechon.

Truly there’s nothing that can dampen the high spirits of Balayeños on this day of the lechons… not the winds of typhoon Feria nor the swine flu scare..