World’s best festivals: Black Nazarene Procession

Nov 23, 2010 9:54:12 PM

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This is an excerpt from Lonely Planet’s A Year of Festivals.

Location: Quiapo, Manila, Philippines

Date: 9 January

Level of Participation: 3 – men are welcome to join in the procession

The miracle-wielding Black Nazarene is a life-size statue of Christ carved from ebony. It was brought to the Philippines from Mexico in the 17th century and placed in Manila’s Quiapo Church in 1767. Today it’s the focus of the largest annual procession in Asia’s only majority Catholic country. On this day the Black Nazarene (or, at least, its body with a replica head) is removed from the church and paraded through the streets of Manila’s Quiapo district.

Thousands of barefoot men follow behind the Black Nazarene, clambering to touch it or carrying bits of cloth they hope to rub against it – a single touch of the statue is said to produce miracles. The Black Nazarene procession takes place a second time during Holy Week (the week between Palm Sunday and Easter).

Essentials: This can be a frenzied event. People are injured and even killed each year when trampled during the procession, so tread carefully.

Local Attractions: For a ‘home visit’ to the Black Nazarene, stop in at Quiapo Church, one of Manila’s best-known landmarks with its baroque, cream-coloured edifice. Manila is really just an enormous collection of towns with no definable centre: check out historic Intramuros, the markets and backstreets of Quiapo and the bars and clubs of Malate.

See a list of other festivals in January here.

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