Go Bananas at the Banana Festival

Banana Festival, just as the name suggests, is a festival that honors the abundance of the delicious yellow fruits that dot most of the Philippines’ islands.

Every year, the quaint Baco Area nestled in the Oriental Mindoro comes alive for this delicious celebration. The festival brings together farmers from all parts of the country to show off their best produce and gather around all sorts of treats, dishes, and souvenirs made of bananas. There are four varieties of bananas that grow in the Philippines: Lacatan, Latundan, Bungulan and the small Saba or Cardaba. Look out for these varieties when you make your way to the festival as they are not only healthy, they are also an instant source of energy.

Banana Festival of Baco, Oriental Mindoro

The Banana Festival is a two-day affair that is held annually between 18th and 19th March in Baco. Davao City and Negros Occidental actually hold their own Banana Festivals, too. That’s how abundant the fruit is in the Philippines. However, the main festival is still considered to be in Baco.

One of the highlights of this festival is the banana cook fest where visitors compete to create the best banana meal plans. Have your fill and head to the street dancing contest for a locally-inspired competition. This is then followed by a beauty pageant where the ladies battle it out for the title of the festival.

The Banana Festival in Baco is a lot bigger than in other cities because it coincides with the town’s fiesta in honor of their patron saint, St. Joseph. This double celebration makes for a truly exciting experience.

Things to do at the Banana Festival

Indulge in Bananas

You won’t fall short of banana treats at this festival. The cook fest is open to the public and the judging is usually held at the public plaza. While visitors can’t technically partake in the dishes created for the competition, the plaza is filled with vendors selling all sorts of goodies. The most popular treats you’ll find are banana cue, grilled bananas coated in sugar, and turon, banana wrapped in lumpia wrapper and fried with sugar.

Streets are also lined with vendors, and most establishments will have some kind of banana-related souvenir on sale.

Participate in the watercraft parade

In celebration of St. Joseph, the town holds a watercraft parade. The rafts and boats are made from different parts of the banana tree, showing off the versatility of the whole plant. Locals sometimes go all out with their designs, filling their floats with banana blooms and fruits. Some of these rafts almost look like floating gardens from all the flora and fauna on it.

Explore the rest of Baco

Baco is a third-class municipality in Oriental Mindoro. The area is very rural and you won’t find too many commercialized spaces. On the other hand, it has a lot of natural wonders to offer.

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Alpaparay Falls is a three-storey cascade flanked by two minor cascading falls. There’s a picnic grove set up at the base for visitors to enjoy their meals or a quick dip in the cool waters. If you follow the water upstream, there are bamboo bridges and cemented pathways that lead visitors to 12-foot deep natural water basins. Here, visitors can dive off stone ledges and take a swim.

Karayrayan River flows at the foot of Mt. Halcon. There are two nature resorts at the banks of the river, namely Tagbungan Mountain Resort and Kambal-Bato Mountain River Resort. Guests can spend the day for a mere dollar, which is safer than roughing it at the river as the current can get very strong.

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Adventure-seekers can also trek Mt. Halcon, known as one of the country’s toughest terrains. With rugged paths and steep slopes combined with unpredictable weather, the trek to the peak can be quite challenging. The mountain rises 2,586 meters above sea level and takes about four days to climb.