IBABAO FESTIVAL, ALSO known as Northern Samar Foundation Day, is considered as the province’s Festival of Festivals. This year on June 19, 2025, it will be the province’s 60th Foundation Day.
A gathering of different cultural festivals participated in by by the Northern Samar’s component towns, the date is a special non-working holiday in the entire province by virtue of Republic Act No. 9414 approved on March 24, 2007.
Ibabao Festival come from ibabao, which means upper location or a site located above another place. Ibabao was also the old name of Northern Samar in precolonial times, a land that stretched over the present-day towns Biri to Borongan.
Also, Ibabao is also a language with its speakers found in Barangay San Antonio in Biri, Barangay Cabadiangan in Batag Island in the municipality of Laoang, the towns of Mapanas, Gamay, and Lapinig.
Ibabao Festival was organized by the provincial government to bring Northern Samar in the calendar of country’s festivals, to celebrate its rich culture and heritage, and to promote the province as a tourist destination.
Come join the Ibabao Festival!
