Binalbal Festival

The tradition & historical record

The Binalbal Festival is an annual festival held on the first of January in Tudela, Misamis Occidental, Philippines. It is a unique celebration of welcoming the new year for the townsfolk of Tudela. ¹

Participants are disguised through the use of masks which allow them full freedom of inhibition during the new year celebration. In the celebration, people or spectators wear masks and outfits that would represent their own definition of "Binalbal". Binalbal is derived from the local dialect "Balbal" which is Cebuano; it refers to a supernatural genus of strange-looking lifeforms: imps, witches, ogres, and the likes of them. Very much like a giant Halloween costume party, the Binalbal Festival is a very important cultural celebration where many revelers are clad in gory costumes. ¹

Since its early beginnings, the celebration traditionally starts on the evening until midnight of December 31 (known as the "Masquerade Ball") and continues on the noon time of January 1, which is the grand parade of Binalbal Festival. ¹

It all started as simply wearing masks on New Year's Day to disguise the identity of a person. In the early 1920s, prominent people of Tudela participated in this affair, including Gregorio Aborka, Sofronio Inting, Edmundo Ruiz Sr., Gregorio Nebre, Florentino N. Olarte, Jose Singson, Alberto Raagas and other unrecorded personalities in metro barangays of Tudela. It is associated with the wearing of "Maskara" (mask) at the outset of New Year. With bizarre make-up, the "Binalbal" roamed the street, visiting friends and relatives and asking gifts "biko" or "suman", and other native delicacies. This unique cultural tradition was handed down from the fathers of Tudelanians with its center theme focused on love, unity and prosperity with the hope of ultimately re-committing the individual to the spiritual and social codes of the past: a combination of merrymaking, thanksgiving, and prayers for a good harvest, good health and good luck. It is also an occasion of fun for everyone. The word "Binalbal", according to its official history published by the Local Government of Tudela dated January 1, 2003, does not carry unsavory connotations. It did not originate from the word "Balbal" (witch), or denoting evil spirit, nor was it coined to mean the Municipality of Tudela is inhabited by "balbals" (witches). Cebu has "Sinulog", Aklan "Ati-Atihan", the Illongos in Iloilo "Dinagyang", all rolled into one "Binalbal" in Tudela. Binalbal Festival has some semblance with Halloween practices in the British Isles. The ancient Celts then believed that in the evening of October 31, Samon, ‘Lord of the Dead’, called forth many evil spirits. ¹

The text above is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Binalbal Festival”, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence. ¹

Binalbal Festival is annual festival held on the first of January in Philippines, according to the structured record cited below. This entry was generated automatically from that record and has not yet been reviewed by a person familiar with the tradition. ²

The source record links this tradition to 1 external register, which can be verified through the citation. ²