Hello. My name is Ayana and I am going to tell you about a special festival we

In my country my favourite festival is how we are welcoming the New Year or Salubong at the stroke of midnight.

 

Our families gather together. We attend a traditional midnight mass and family midnight feast, or as we call it ‘Media Noche’.   My family prepares some special foods like roast hog (lechon), ‘paxit’ (noodles), pasta soup, barbecue and sweets. On our table you can find twelve different round shaped fruits, representing the twelve months and symbolising prosperity. We wear new clothes, preferably with polka dots. We fill our pockets with coins or ‘barya’ and paper notes for good luck. We turn on all the lights in the house. All the windows and doors must be open as well and the coins are scattered in front of the windows and doorstep to invite prosperity. 

 

At twelve midnight we start lighting our fire crackers or beat the drums and pans or blow the horns (or ‘torotot’) because according to the Chinese belief, evils and bad spirits should be warded off by noise.

 

Flores de Mayo is a flower festival celebrated in the month of May in honour of the Virgin Mary.