Porac’s Binulu Festival returns for its 21st edition on Saturday, November 14, 2026. The Binulu Festival 2026 theme is “Kultura Natin, Pamana Sa Atin, Pagyamanin Natin” — “Our Culture, Our Heritage, Let Us Enrich It.” The one-day Festival Kick Off opens with the street dance in the morning. Then comes the program proper and the Apag Binulu (Boodle Fight) at the New Municipal Grounds in Cangatba.

Binulu Festival 2026 schedule

The schedule below follows the official invitation and poster from Porac Tourism (Municipal Tourism, Art, and Culture). The office posted it on its official Facebook page.

Saturday, November 14, 2026 — Festival Kick Off

  • Street Dance — 6:00–7:00 AM, Babo Sacan – Cangatba – Poblacion
  • Program Proper — 8:00 AM–12:00 NN, New Municipal Grounds, Circumferential Road, Cangatba, Porac, Pampanga
  • Apag Binulu (Boodle Fight) — the festival highlight, a community sharing of food cooked in bamboo

What is Binulu?

Binulu is the cooking of rice and viands inside a bamboo tube called bulu. Fish, pork, chicken and other food are stuffed into the tube. Then it is cooked over an open fire.

It is a tradition made popular by the Aetas of Porac. In addition, the festival started in 2005. It began as part of the town’s annual fiesta in honor of St. Catherine of Alexandria, its patron saint.

At the festival, barangays cook together and share what they make. That community sharing is the heart of the celebration. It is also what the Apag Binulu boodle fight is all about. Everyone is welcome to join in and enjoy the food.

The street dance is the other highlight. Dancers wear colorful costumes, many in gold and yellow. They carry bamboo tubes and wear leaf skirts and star headdresses. Some also carry images of saints as they dance in the streets of Porac.

What to know before you go

  • Come early. The street dance starts at 6:00 AM, running from Babo Sacan through Cangatba to Poblacion.
  • The program proper runs from 8:00 AM to 12:00 noon at the New Municipal Grounds on Circumferential Road in Cangatba.
  • I photographed the Binulu Festival before — see my Binulu Festival 2015 post here: https://palibut.com/2015/11/binulu-festival-2015/ — and more photos from the Binulu Festival 2022 are in my Flickr album: https://www.flickr.com/photos/robpinzon/albums/72177720306417187
  • The featured photo above is my own shot from the Binulu Festival 2022 in Porac. It shows a street dancer carrying a saint’s image. She wears a gold headdress and a gold dress.

One honest note: the times and venues above come from the official Porac Tourism invitation and poster. Check the Municipality of Porac website before you go, in case of last-minute changes.