Higalaay Festival in Cagayan de Oro Date in the current year: August 28, 2024

Like many other cities and towns in the Philippines, Cagayan de Oro was established by the Spanish Augustinian Recollect friars (members of a Catholic religious order that follows the Rule of Saint Augustine develop by Augustine of Hippo). It is thus not surprising that Saint Augustine is venerated as the city’s patron and that his feast day, August 28, is a big holiday in Cagayan de Oro.

Cagayan de Oro was established in 1626, but the first church was built here more than a century and a half later. It was finished on August 28, 1780, and the feast of Saint Augustine has been celebrated as the patronal feast of Cagayan de Oro ever since. Over time, it has transformed into the present-day Higalaay Festival, formerly known as the Kagay-an Festival. The name Higalaay means “Friendship Festival” in Cebuano; it is a reference to Cagayan de Oro’s nickname “the City of Golden Friendship”.

The Higalaay Festival is a month-long celebration that begins during the first week of August and culminates of August 28 that has been designated as a special non-working holiday in Cagayan de Oro. Its program is filled with numerous events and activities such as solemn masses and celebratory speeches, concerts, the Kumbira Culinary Show, the Cagayan de Oro Carnival Parade, the Higalas Parade of Floats and Icons, the Fluvial Procession dedicated to Saint Augustine, a spectacular fireworks display known as the Higalaay Pyrolympics, the Garden Show and Agricultural Fair, and more.

The Kumbira Culinary Show is considered the longest-running annual culinary show in the Philippines. It lasts for three days and features various culinary competitions and mouthwatering local delicacies. The Cagayan de Oro Carnival Parade is a street dancing competition featuring local barangays (barrios) that compete for the coveted titles of the Best Carnival Parade and Best Carnival Queen.

The Higalas Parade of Floats and Icons features local educational institutions, fraternities and sororities, civic groups, local businesses, etc. It is a spectacular procession of floats and marching bands that parades through the streets of Cagayan de Oro, attracting thousands of spectators, locals and tourists alike. The Fluvial Procession is a Filipino Catholic tradition where devotees in bedecked boats would carry an image of a patron saint, in this case Saint Augustine, along the river, while spectators ashore wave their handkerchiefs and pray as the procession sails by.

The grand finale of the festival is marked by the Higalaay Pyrolympics. It is a spectacular fireworks display traditionally sponsored by the shopping mall SM City CDO Uptown (formerly known as SM City Cagayan de Oro). Just like the parades, the fireworks display gathers thousands of spectators because it is a show you wouldn’t want to miss.