The Kneeling Carabao Festival in Pulilan, Bulacan is more than just an annual tourism event as it seeks to preserve traditional rice farming and develop a dairy industry in the agro-industrial town.
Municipal Tourism Officer Josef Christian Navarro shared that the festival started in the 1920s.
“Consistency of conducting the Kneeling Carabao Festival serves as the vibrant symbol of bounty farming amidst modernization and mechanization of the agricultural sector,” he said.
Farmland in Pulilan comprises around two thousand hectares that produce approximately 10,000 metric tons of rice annually.
This year, about 427 carabaos owned by farmers joined the parade wherein they kneeled in front of the Pulilan Church in honor of San Isidro Labrador, the revered patron saint of farmers, peasants and agricultural workers.
“The participating carabaos this year is higher compared to the 277 who joined in 2024, and 266 in 2023. This is a positive indication that farming in Pulilan is still alive and can nurture potential in developing a local dairy industry,” Navarro added.
The municipal government provides subsidies to farmers who bring their carabaos to the annual festival. This is one way for them to increase the population of carabaos in their villages.
The local government is now seeking the assistance of the Department of Tourism in including the Kneeling Carabao Festival to its Philippine Experience Program to bring back foreign tourists to Pulilan, similar to what happened during the 2000s under the Wow Philippines Program. (CLJD/SFV, PIA Region 3-Bulacan)
