Get ready to get wet and have a great time, and don’t forget to download Our Awesome Guide for information, food, and pasalubong tips at the Lechon Festival 🙂
The Lechon Festival in Balayan, Batangas is held every 24th of June in honor of St. John the Baptist. It’s one of the liveliest fiestas we’ve been to, lechons are paraded dressed in fun characters, along with the whole town participating in a water splashing tradition.
Lechon (whole roasted pig) is central to Filipino Fiesta celebrations, the golden brown pig is stuffed with lemongrass, garlic, onions and other locals herbs and spices.
#TeamOAP (Team Our Awesome Planet) visited this year and put together these helpful tips for you to use next time you visit the Lechon Festival.
1. Travel Tips
Travel time from Manila to Balayan is approximately 3 hours. You can also take the bus via Manila-Lemery-Balayan.
Free parking is available behind the Balayan Catholic Church. Cars aren’t allowed in town when the parade starts, be sure to arrive an hour or two for parking. Unless you park outside of town and decide to take a pedicab to the city proper.
2. What to do at the Lechon Festival
The fiesta starts at 9am from the Bagoong Daan route.
The parade is honored alongside the feast of St. John the Baptist, which is widely celebrated with splashing of water here and there.
Locals are already drenched in water even before the fiesta begins.
Kids and adults alike join in the water splashing tradition.
We love how everyone is cooperating in making the fiesta enjoyable!
Bring water guns, or buy at the town center to partake in the event.
Watch out for this little fellow. 🙂
Tip: Watch out for locals who love to ambush ice-cold water from their houses. Trust no one, you will get wet. 🙂
The parade starts with marching bands and lechons dressed in different famous characters.
The floats are very simple, maybe because it will only get destroyed from the water…
Most of the lechons are wrapped around in plastic, to avoid getting soggy from the water, and also to keep locals residences away from taking a bite from the pig.
Some of the fan favorites are famous characters such as clash of clans…
this cool lechon on a motorcycle 🙂
Baymax
this well decorated float.
This creepy little girl pig.
And our favorite is the Lechon Miley Cyrus in her wrecking ball get up.
The parade ends at around 1 pm to 2 pm. But let me warn you, the splashing still continues. So better keep gadgets inside waterproof bags still.
2. Where to eat in town?
Lechon Festival without the lechon. Unless you find a host family who serves lechon, as the day is considered a holiday.
Tip: Pre-order lechon before hand and pick it up on the fiesta day.
We were surprised that all the local restaurants were closed during the holiday. Too bad we didn’t get the chance to try any of them. 🙁
The only restos open are the fast food chains Mcdonalds, Jollibee, Chowking and Andoks on Plaza Rizal. The restaurants are packed, we advise you bring packed lunches on the way to the fiesta.
If you happen to stay before or after the festival, here are suggested places locals love.
Agot’s Bar and Restaurant serves native and international dishes. Their specialty is the seafood kare-kare and pancit palabok.
Agot’s Bar & Restaurant
168 Palikpikan St. corner Paz St. Balayan, Batangas
Landline: (043) 211-4306
Mobile: 0917-505-8692, 0917-862-2096
Facebook: AgotsCatering
Email: info@agotscatering.com
Website: www.agotscatering.com/
In front of Agot’s is Rebekah’s Lechon, that is praised by the locals as the best lechon in Balayan.
Lechon Price: Menu
Rebekah’s Lechon
Palikpikan St., Balayan
Mobile: 09163571439
Facebook: rebekahs.lechon
You can also check out Mila’s Lechon, they sell lechon by small portions on the fiesta day only.
1 kilo is about P500.
Lechon Price: Menu
Mila’s Special Lechon
Brgy. 4 Plaza Mabini St. Balayan Batangas
Mobile: 0916-1655128, 09232808581
Landline: (043)300-6480
3. Pasalubong:
Luckily all the pasalubong shops are located in just one area. Get bagoong balayan and kalamay-hati the town’s pride.
The kalamay-hati is sold outside the church for P20.
Kalamay-hati is native delicacy and is basically made from a concoction of sticky rice flour, muscovado sugar and coconut milk.
And Bagoong Balayan at the central market, just across the church for P17.
Bagoong Balayan is made from fermented anchovies stored in a pot for a year. It is used as an alternative seasoning for cooking, instead of fish sauce and soy sauce.
4. Checklist:
- Extra Clothes
- Hand Towel
- Slippers
- Drinking Water
- Packed Lunch
- Sunblock
- Waterproof Sunglasses
- Waterproof Pouches or Ziploc
- Friends and Family
The Lechon Festival by far is one of the liveliest fiestas we’ve been to, thanks to the participating locals who made the fiestas fun. The floats weren’t festive enough because of the water, however, it was the energy of the crowd that we loved! We feel it’s an underrated fiesta that deserves the same publicity and fame like other fiestas in NCR, with it being at par with some famous fiestas in Luzon. Cheer to Balayan for an awesome fiesta, we had so much fun!
Live an Awesome Life,
Abi, Sean, and Boom
Our Awesome Planet Team
Disclosure: We went around the Lechon Festival at our own expense. We wrote this article with our biases, opinions, and insights. Read Our Awesome Planet Complete Disclosure Policy here.
P.S. We got to try the lechon thanks to our teammates cousin Kuya Ricky from the police department. It taste the same as the Lechon from Manila. Thank you kuya for showing us around the bayan! 😀
Next year try passing by the town proper itself where the so called palengke, BCC and fire station is located.
Your blog is one of a kind. I thought Lechon festival is only happening in Cebu. Just know that its also happening in Batangas. Keep it up!