Angono Rizal

Angono Rizal is know as the Art of the Capital in the Philippines. Angono is the hometown of two national artists, Lucio San Pedro for music and Carlos "Botong" Francisco for arts. One of the public schools in Brgy. Mahabang Parang is named Carlos "Botong" V. Francisco National High School in honor of the said artist. The town also boasts of other artists like Nemiranda, Perdigon to name a few. Around the town are artworks like various sculptures. The artistic town of Angono celebrates the feast of Pope St. Clement I every November 22 to 23 of each year. There are times that this coincides with the feast of Christ the King. The celebration starts with the novena mass on the 14th till 22nd day of November, the devotees in prayer and thanksgiving, dance in the church patio after the novena mass. The dancing was accompanied by the Angono band with the church bell ringing after playing the music. The higantes are made of paper-mache. Higantes measures four to five feet in diameter and ten to twelve feet in height. Traditionally, it began in the last century when Angono was a Spanish hacienda. This higantes was influenced by the Mexican art form of paper-mache brought by the Spanish priests to the Philippines.

Parehadora
The traditional parehadoras are group of young girls holding paddles and wearing bakya or wooden slippers and dressed in a colorful outfit which joins the procession in the feast day of St. Clement. They usually march at the beat of the band playing alongside with them.

                                                                                           "Tourist Destination in Angono Rizal"

Higantes Festival

The month of November is the busiest time of the year for the Angono folks. This is the time when people prepare themselves for the celebration of the Higantes Festival.

The festivity got its name from the paper-mache giants that is always brought out to include in the celebrations. The origin of these giants were said to be the paper-mache giants used by the Angono natives before against the Spanish oppressors as a form of protest against them.

The preparations start as early as September, During this time, you can hear a faint sound of drums and lyres practicing their parade piece, whether a traditional parade piece, the classic Voltes V theme song or something from the latest array of music, such as Lady Gaga’s Bad Romance.

During the month of October, more preparations are becoming visible. Besides the sound of the drums and lyres, the sound of the majorette’s whistle can now also be heard. The participants of the parade are starting to hold their routine practices, including the parehadoras. Parehadoras are participants who usually wear wooden clogs (bakya in Filipino), colorful attires, and they hold wooden paddles, which signifies the history of Angono—that the town was once a fishing village.

At the same time, the installment of banderitas are being held. These banderitas are pretty important because aside from the fact that these give the fiesta feeling a little more boost, the banderitas used in Angono are made out of recycled materials, which is great, because it minimizes use of paper, therefore, it saves a lot of trees from being cut. These recycled banderitas also proves that Angono is an environment-friendly town, which is synonymous to one of the current mayor’s advocations: Zero Basura.

And then, come the month of the festivities.

The town of Angono buzzes with so much life once the month of November comes in. People prepare their houses for the arrival of friends and relatives who will celebrate the fiesta with them. Mothers keep themselves busy with budgeting their money for the food to be prepared during the fiesta feast.


The festival starts on the 22nd of November, and it starts off with the Bisperas Mayores, which is a parade of the marching bands and drum and lyres sponsored by each barangay of Angono. It is done in the morning and in the afternoon, and some of the giants and local officials join in the parade in the afternoon.



Cruising Dona Aurora Ibaba

Almost all lower exterior walls/fences of houses in this area (towards the church) are finished with mural paintings/sculptures which you'll find very informative for they showcase relics of all painting works of Carlos "Botong" Francisco.

Yab Designs

It is very easy to find Yab Designs. it is located near the Meralco Office along Quezon Avenue in Angono. Call in advance before going to the warehouse as they are very strict about who can enter their factory premises but he staff are very helpful and kind.

To the CAVE

                                                     

You need to enter and walk into a tunnel to reach the gallery and the cave
-Reaching the end of the tunnel, need to walk another 50 meters to be at the site
-No vehicles allowed to enter into the tunnel, not even motorcycles. One time I was at the Gallery before 8AM waiting for the Tourism Officer - he arrives at the site on his motorcycle - meaning he passed into the tunnel on his ride. Follow the rules!!!!!
-The first time I visited the cave was in 1993. No gallery, no security guard, no one looks after the cave to secure the site and NO tunnel. It seems they blocked the old trail we used to build the golf course and created the tunnel to reach the cave, instead.

The Petroglyhps Gallery

Art and Festival

The Higantes (Giants) Festival in this town celebrates every November 23, where the giants made of paper mache are paraded in honor of their patron saint, San Clemente.and also the..
Angono Petroglyphs is a pre-historic drawings discovered in the boundary of Angono and Binangonan, Rizal, in 1965 and the 127 drawings on the rock wall estimated to date back to 3000 B.C. I never had a chance to see those drawings due to bad weather



Balaw-Balaw gallery and restaurant

Exhibiting a vast collection of paintings, sculptures and other art forms conceptualized and made by independent and budding artists from Angono, the gallery is located at Balaw-Balaw Specialty Restaurant, where customers, visitors and guests alike, oftentimes enjoy viewing the artworks on display. This charming art gallery and restaurant, was founded by the painter and sculptor Perdigon Vocalan. Today they offer a hearty welcome to both local and foreign guests and a short guided tour around the exhibits that are works of the late artist and his students or collection items from the old Philippine cultural tradition. Among the exhibits you will find a lot of miniatures or original "Higantes" (=Giants), that are parading in the Angono streets on November 22 (Higantes Festival) and November 23 (San Clemente feast). Then you can taste a wide range of native foods at reasonable prices (let's say prices compatible to a Max's restaurant). Pictures and video are not allowed.

Exotic and Delicious Delicacies
Balaw-Balaw Folk Art Museum is now known as Balaw-Balaw Restaurant. Here in this Restaurant they serve foods like specialties and exotics. For those people whose brave enough, they could order, Urok (larva of beetles that are found in coconut trees cooked as adobo or steamed in tamarind fruit and tomatoes just like escargot), nilasing na palaka which is frogs marinated in wine and cooked as adobo, kamaru or the popular Kapampangan cricket dish, bibingkang abnoy which is aborted duck eggs cooked in banana leaves, and the palos (freshwater eel cooked as adobo).

Balaw-Balaw Restaurant doesn't just serve for lunch and dinner. They are also preparing and serving those unusual alads such as rose petal salad, rose petal tempura, bougainvillea salad, or crispy alagaw leaves (like crispy spinach or kangkong). But for today, they served us the traditional foods.

Above and around the restaurant are paintings and sculptures of Vocalan, a lot of them! Indeed, the place was a feast for the eyes, mind and stomach.

Balaw-Balaw Folf Art Museum

Balaw-Balaw Folk Art Museum is now known as Balaw-Balaw Restaurant. Here in this Restaurant they serve foods like specialties and exotics. For those people whose brave enough, they could order, Urok (larva of beetles that are found in coconut trees cooked as adobo or steamed in tamarind fruit and tomatoes just like escargot), nilasing na palaka which is frogs marinated in wine and cooked as adobo, kamaru or the popular Kapampangan cricket dish, bibingkang abnoy which is aborted duck eggs cooked in banana leaves, and the palos (freshwater eel cooked as adobo).
Balaw-Balaw Restaurant doesn't just serve for lunch and dinner. They are also preparing and serving those unusual alads such as rose petal salad, rose petal tempura, bougainvillea salad, or crispy alagaw leaves (like crispy spinach or kangkong). But for today, they served us the traditional foods.
Above and around the restaurant are paintings and sculptures of Vocalan, a lot of them! Indeed, the place was a feast for the eyes, mind and stomach.

Nemiranda restaurant and The Blanco Family Museum

Nemiranda Restaurant and Museum is also famous because of their paintings or art works and their food served. Nemiranda restaurant is near the super famous restaurant in Angono, Rizal the Balaw-Balaw Restaurant.