Tangub Festival of Lights: What to See and When to Go

Tangub is a small city on Panguil Bay that most of the country could not place on a map, and every December it becomes the most photographed town in Northern Mindanao. The Christmas Symbols Festival, which everyone here just calls the Festival of Lights, has run every year since 1992, which makes it the longest running Christmas festival in the Philippines. In 2007 the Department of Tourism gave the city the title it has kept since: Christmas Symbols Capital of the Philippines.

What it is

For the whole of December and into the first week of January the city fills with large lit displays, built by local and national agencies, schools, barangays and businesses, and judged as a competition. Since 2012 the theme has been Discover the World. Each display is a replica of a landmark from somewhere on the planet, lit up: a Trevi Fountain, a Statue of Liberty, temples, pagodas, gardens, churches, a different set every year. Visitors are handed a passport and collect a stamp at each country. It is exactly as much fun as that sounds.

Opening night is the big one. In a recent year the city counted over a hundred thousand people for the opening alone, in a city whose own population is a fraction of that.

What it is like

Go after dark, obviously. The displays run along the waterfront and through the city centre, and the whole route is walkable. Expect crowds on weekends and on opening night, and expect the city to be full of families, school groups and people who drove across the Panguil Bay Bridge from Lanao for the evening, which is a new thing since 2024. Weeknights in the middle of December are the quiet version, if there is one.

Food stalls line the route. Bring cash, wear something for walking, and give it a full evening rather than an hour.

Dates

The festival opens at the start of December and runs to the first week of January. The exact opening date and the programme of events change each year, and the city government publishes them on its official site, tangubcity.gov.ph, and on its Facebook page. Check before you travel, and if you can pick, pick opening night.

Getting there

Tangub City is about half an hour south of Ozamiz City along the coast, with buses and vans all day and the airport at the Ozamiz end. From Lanao del Norte the bridge brings you straight into the city. Accommodation in Tangub fills up in December, so book early or stay in Ozamiz and make the half hour trip in the evening.

While you are here

Come up in daylight for the ridge at Hoyohoy Highland, 850 metres above the city with the zipline and the view over the bay, then come down for the lights. The Cotta Fort in Ozamiz is half an hour away.

Places to eat and stay in Tangub and across Misamis Occidental are on our local business directory. If you run one, December is when to get it listed.