The Carabao festival combines both religious and economic symbols in one celebration. It is a festival not to celebrate a transition nor an accomplishment, but to honor the patron saint, San Isidro . This religious celebration not only recognizes San Isidro himself but also recognizes the farmers and carabaos of the Philippines , which is what San Isidro stood for (MacDonald 1992: 298).
This is not a national celebration for it is only celebrated in the villages of San Isidro , Bulacan and Rizal (www.tqnyc.org). Due to the Philippines ' Spanish descent, the celebration originates from Spain and is celebrated in parts of Spain and other Spanish territories as well. The Caraboa festival is a religious celebration for it honors a patron saint. It is a ritual because it is a public performance (Turner: 201). As part of the ritual, the priest of the central church blesses each carabao involved in the festivities and sprinkles them with holy water.
The Carabao festival creates communitas among participants because it rids everyone of economic and social status. At the time of the festival, no one is defined by their status in the community, rather they join to honor something of a lower status than everyone else involved. The connection between people is not based on social status but a common will to honor their saint.
The majority of societies throughout the world do not dedicate a day to honor a universal beast of burden (Henderson 1997: 66). The carabao is a low, reasonably respected animal. This beast becomes king for a day during the Carabao festival due to its great contribution to the harvest and aid to the farmers (www.travelchannel.com). This is what makes the festival unique. Entire villages come to celebrate their patron saint and the lowly water buffalo of their region. This ritual is just as respected as all other Filipino celebrations regardless of the fact that it is in honor of a farm animal. Rituals are generally performative: repeatable actions. They function as entertainment, celebrations and healing; emphasizing efficiency (Ingold: 613). This ritual can be compared to the Hindu view of cows. Hindus view the cow as a sacred animal because of their life-sustaining abilities. They recognize everything cows can do for them as a society (www.vendata.org). This respect for the water buffalo helps sensitize the modernizing world. The people of the Philippines still recognize and honor the non-media aspects of life and what truly helps them live, such as the caraboa. This festival in a way challenges the concept of human power, for it removes any previous superiority of man over the harvest, the caraboa and their patron saint. One day of the year, the people of the Philippines give up their authority and take pride in a water buffalo. It is a symbolic way of saying thank you to the carabaos for their contribution to their own success. Socially, the festival also recognizes the farmers and their role in the harvest and the towns' prosperity. Inhabitants of bordering villages always know when the Carabao festival is taking place because of the immense amount of noise and liveliness of the procession. They say to one another, “The barrio folks of San Isidro are celebrating the fiesta of their patron saint.” (www.pagsanjan.org). Outsiders recognize the participants pride and honor they hold for their saint and what he represents.
Filipinos are a very religious group of people, primarily Christian or Catholic. Therefore, most Filipinos are able to relate to religion and religious rituals or festivities. The Carabao festival is recognized by so many because of its religious purpose, but also because of their farming nature. In the areas of San Isidro , Bulacan and Rizal, farming is the major occupation and is what their economy is primarily based on. They take advantage of the day meant to honor San Isidro , the saint of farming, to also honor the buffalo, the major farming contributor.
The Philippines is a very festive country for it holds a variety of different celebrations all year long. The festival categories are actually separated by month. Each month of the year is full of certain types of celebrations. The month of May is referred to as “the Mayflower month,” because each festival incorporates multiple villages coming together to honor someone or some transition. Other celebrated months are February-the arts and culture month, April-the pilgrimage month, and June- the independence month (http://festivals.pinoyshowcase.com).
The Carabao festival joins various cultural realms in one celebration. It may be known for its recognition of San Isidro , but also serves as part of the harvest festival because the people of the involved regions take advantage of this day to celebrate their harvest. So, religious and economic domains come together. Also, since communitas becomes more important then social standing, social structures are challenged and recognized division of class is not prevalent. Aside from being a festival, this day gives hope for social stratification world wide, because now it is obvious that communities can come together for the same purpose and interact equally.