As someone who has been living in Canada for her whole life, I only know that Filipinos love to celebrate Christmas and New Year’s. I thought that no other special occasions occurred throughout the year. However, after doing research, Filipinos commemorate various festivals throughout the year. On March 24, the Sunflower Festival of Ligao City celebrated another year of its cityhood.
Behind the bright yellow sunflowers, a legend is carried along. The city of Ligao used to be a vibrant green forest surrounded by Ticao trees, and these trees inhabit enchanted beings and are led by five noble datus. The five noble datus were the first to settle and claim the city of Ligao. Reading this is already crazy. If enchanted beings are real, I hope the manananggal is a fake. There are three stories about how Ligao City got its name. One story passed down is about a detour route called “Licau,” which was used by merchants when the main paths were flooded. Another story was about a maiden named Mirasol, who was very beautiful and attracted many suitors, also known as “manliligaw.” My assumption is correct. I knew that the city of Ligao had to be something related to ligaw (courting), but the word licau never came to mind. Lastly, when the Spanish people went to the Philippines, the natives thought they were asking about the Ticao trees. However, the Spanish mispronounced it and started calling the city, Ligao.
During the Sunflower Festival of Ligao City, performers from Ligao would dance through a three-kilometre path that spanned from Barangay Turuban to City Hall. The dance portrays how the city of Ligao evolved from its roots of the five datus, to the gift of faith of the Spanish colonizers, and to the current state of Ligao City, which the people take pride in being Bicol’s Sunflower City.
Why is Ligao known for being a Sunflower City? This city has an abundance of flowers that span twenty hectares of land. I am not the best with math, so I am not sure how much this is, but it sure does sound like a lot! By having so many sunflowers, the city of Ligao uses them for cooking oil, meals and other confectionery products. Sunflower seed oil is pretty healthy as it contains good fats, so it is becoming high in demand for food manufacturers abroad. Also, I was in Whole Foods the other day, and I was trying to find good almond butter. To my surprise, I found SunButter, an alternative to peanut butter. I think this is great to bring to school or work if you are cautious about others around you with a peanut allergy.
I think I’ll add seeing the Sunflower festival in Ligao City as one of my bucket list items for the future. This festival looks so bright and colourful in pictures. Maybe I’ll even add SunButter to my grocery shopping list too.