Viva la Virgen, they will shout to high heavens. The feast day is headed by a novena, nine days of prayer, in honor of the Virgin. On the first day, the image of the Virgin, a copy of the Madonna in Peñafrancia, Spain, is brought from its shrine to the Naga Cathedral where the novena is held. On the last day, the image is returned to her shrine following the Naga River route. The colorful evening procession is lit by thousands of candles from followers in boats escorting the image. When the flatboat reaches its destination, the devotees shout "Viva la Virgen" (Long live the Virgin!) and the image is carried back in a procession to the cathedral.
Our group chose to feature The Peñafrancia Festival, a celebration to pay honor and thanksgiving to the Virgin of Peñafrancia, also known as "Ina". This is held every September at Naga City, Bicol, Philippines.
We chose this as our topic because this year will be the 300th year of our devotion to our Ina, so we would like to know more about how this all started & how it became such a big event, and at the same time, share it to other people. Also, we chose this to invite other people to come and be a part of the week long celebration."
