Loon Festivals

Held every 6^th of September in honor of the town’s patron, Nuestra Señora de la Luz, the Festival of Lights, locally known as Sidlak-Kasilak Festival, has always been Loon’s most awaited time of the year. The days-long grand celebration is highlighted by a fluvial parade followed by various contests throughout the day, all accompanied by hefty prizes.

Standing out the most among all the competitions there are, is the ever-colorful and impressive Dance of Lights competition. Inspired by the past religious processions where devotees light candles inside the colorful, semi-close hand-held “parols”, nowadays, dancers, instead, all adorned by colorful led lights and carrying multicolored lanterns, dance and sway in synchroneity in the midst of the dark and feature their distinct choreographies that depict the festival’s theme. In some occasions, the Dance of Lights is not done as a contest but a mere performance. Be that as it may, this grand highlight is always emphasized as it symbolizes Mary, Our Lady of Light, serving not only as the town’s beacon of hope but the townspeople’s keeper of faith.

More than anything else, the Sidlak-Kasilak festival expresses the enduring qualities of the town and its people. The Visayan words “sidlak” (shine) and “silak” (light) best describe the characters of Loonanons as they have been found to always shine their lights despite life’s constant dimming as evident during the various disasters that befell the town for the past centuries. To conquer life’s adversities and make the best out of their inherent talents and capabilities all anchored by their unwavering faith to the Virgin Mary may have been the Loonanon’s specialty.

Of course, a fiesta is not a fiesta without “pakals”. Stroll around Loon and you’ll find every house littered with lively people singing, dancing, eating, and drinking to their heart’s content. All these- done in celebration and thanksgiving for the Blessed Virgin Mary, strengthening the townspeople’s faith and camaraderie even further.