Baler, Aurora's Suman Festival

The “SUMAN FESTIVAL” is the biggest and grandest of all feasts in Baler, Aurora with a weeklong celebration from February 14 – 19. It features parade of floats uniquely designed, main streets and homes are decked with suman (a native delicacy), trade exhibits, fairs and competitions, and capped by the Search for Ms. Aurora.

Suman is the Filipino steamed rice cake. It comes in as many different forms as there are provinces, but the basic recipes is waxy (sweet) rice wrapped in leaves, then cooked. Suman is the ritual gift of HAGISAN. It is cooked with great enthusiasm by Tayabenses because Hagisan is an opportunity to share their prosperity. Bundles of suman are gaily tied in the pabitin, which is made out of a special kind of bamboo called bagakay.