Festivals & events calendar

Masbate parties like the working province it is — rodeos, gold-panning dances, crab feasts and a seagull dance you won't see anywhere else. The essentials, month by month:

| When | What | Where | |---|---|---| | March 18 | Province anniversary | Province-wide | | 2nd week of April | Pangumagat Festival | Balud | | Mid-April ⭐ | Rodeo Masbateño — the big one: bull riding, carambola, lassoing, parades (30th edition ran 13–17 April 2026) | Masbate City, Rodeo Grand Arena | | Full moon of May | Crab Festival — Aroroy's famous crabs, feast and street dancing | Aroroy | | June 23–24 | Bagat-Dagat Festival — fluvial parade, dragon boats, kites and fireworks on Matayum Lagoon; June 24 is a province-wide holiday | Cataingan | | September 30 | Lapay Bantigue Dance Festival — the seagull dance of Brgy. Bantigue, nationally recognized folk dance | Masbate City | | October | Town fiesta + fluvial procession for St. Raphael | Aroroy | | November 17 | Pagdulang Festival — gold-panning heritage dances for the town's founding anniversary | Aroroy |

Town festivals (dates vary — check locally)

Every municipality has its own: Panugway (Uson — plus the ember-dancing Corn Festival in San Ramon), Pamasayan (Mandaon), Pasayaw sa Leon (Palanas), Pagdangan (Milagros), Himag-ulaw (Placer), Sayaw Dayaw Panisito (Mobo), Naro (Dimasalang). Timed around each town's fiesta — ask the municipal tourism office, or just follow the sound of the brass band.

Planning around Rodeo week

April is the one week the province sells out. Book rooms and transport weeks ahead, expect festival pricing, and enjoy the strangest, best week in Masbate — full Rodeo guide here.

Dates are announced year by year (and typhoons occasionally reshuffle them). Verified August 2026 from official sources — always confirm before building a trip around one.