Pahiyas

At Far Eastern University, the students’ artistic aptitude is nourished and guided by the competent fine arts faculty and a physical environment conducive to creative work. The FEU student artist finds himself or herself in this locus: a learning institution bejeweled with its collection of artworks and enveloped by the nurturing enclosure of nature.

Filipino artists are said to be, by nature, colorists, since, as a people, we have a special sensitivity and attraction towards colors: the brighter the better, making no distinction between good taste and garishness, as evidenced by our so-called jeepney art. Unquestionably, the most colorful festival in the country is the Pahiyas, celebrated annually on the 15th of May in the town of Lucban in Quezon, Southern Luzon. The word comes from the Tagalog hiyas or jewel; thus pahiyas means a bejeweled offering. It is celebrated in honor of San Isidro Labrador, the patron saint of farmers, for whom the festival is an expression of gratitude for a bountiful harvest.