"Our Bigueño culture is so rich that it is not enough to express it in words—we need to express them in festivities and manifest it in our intangible good traditions for other people to understand."

[VIGAN, ILOCOS SUR, PHILIPPINES] ▬ Filipinos are indeed the world's most Christmas-oriented people. We start recognizing the Christmas season as early as September with radio stations playing Christmas songs on the first day of September. In every city or town in the Philippines, each has its own way to celebrate the season. In the World Heritage City of Vigan, its citizens gather as crowd to participate in the unveiling of the Christmas tree, a yearly tradition.

[VIGAN] ▬ THE VIGAN CROWD WAITING FOR THE UNVEILING OF THE CHRISTMAS TREE

▬ An Annual Bigueño Tradition ▬

EVERY YEAR, THE HERITAGE CITY OF VIGAN unveils a new Christmas tree. It has a different theme yearly. For the year 2015, the unveiling of the Vigan Christmas Tree was held on 26 October 2015 in front of the Vigan City Hall. A huge white curtain concealed the body of the Christmas tree. Bigueños gathered in number to participate in this annual tradition. The event is one of the kick starters of the week-long Raniag Twilight Festival that also happens yearly. Below are some of the photos I took during the event.

[VIGAN] ▬ THE CROWD WAITING IN FRONT OF THE CITY HALL AND BESIDE THE CHRISTMAS TREE VEILED WITH WHITE CURTAIN

[VIGAN] ▬ A POWERFUL LIGHT ILLUMINATES THE TOP OF THE CHRISTMAS TREE.

[VIGAN] ▬ FINALLY UNVEILED

[VIGAN] ▬ THE GIANT CHRISTMAS TREE, 6 LAYERS

[VIGAN] ▬ MANY MANNEQUINS DECORATED EACH LAYER

[VIGAN] ▬ SOARING HIGH

[VIGAN] ▬ THE TRAPPINGS

[VIGAN] ▬ MORE MANNEQUINS IN ARTISTIC COSTUMES

[VIGAN] ▬ WOMAN MANNEQUIN WITH INTRICATELY DESIGNED HEAD DRESS

[VIGAN] ▬ ONE OF THE LIGHTS ATTACHED TO THE CHRISTMAS TREE

[VIGAN] ▬ SOME DETAILS

The Vigan Christmas tree for 2015 has 6 layers. This is the first Christmas tree to stand behind the New7Wonder City Marker of Vigan.

The Christmas tree was designed with mannequins dressed with colorful and very detailed (up close) costumes from head to foot. The unveiling happened after the Raniag Street Dancing showdown, also held in front of the city hall.

▬ Ending Thoughts ▬

THE MANY TRADITIONS AND RICH CULTURE OF Vigan is part of the Bigueños' social well-being. We get sad when we don't find people dancing on the streets to the tune of our culture and heritage. We get mad when our plazas don't stage events and shows. Indeed, we make it sure that these events will happen.

Six (6) festivals happen in Vigan yearly and each festival is jam-packed with distinct events that are different from the other Vigan festivals. Aside from the festivals, we also have other cultural activities that are as grandiose as our festivals. However, we don't consider them festivals—just plain traditions. Our Bigueño culture is so rich that it is not enough to express it in words—we need to express them in festivities and manifest it in our intangible good traditions for other people to understand. ▬ to be continued...

THINGS/PLACES INCLUDED IN THIS BLOG SERIES

[UP NEXT] ▬ EPISODE 02: THE STREETS ARE DARK, BUT IT WAS MADE BRIGHT BY...

► BLOG SERIES: RANIAG TWILIGHT FESTIVAL 2015 COVERAGE

This is the Episode 01 of this blog series. Watch out for the later episodes to follow the flow of the event.

► FOOTNOTES, DISCLAIMERS, ACKNOWLEDGMENT, ETC

[1] This post is filed under the category "Customs and Traditions." To see more posts from this category, scroll down and look for the "More Posts from this Category Customs and Traditions" section below.

[2] Photos here were taken on 26 October 2015.

[3] All maps I used on this post are the works of Eugene Alvin Villar and Mike Gonzalez published on Wikipedia. Source: 1 | 2