Festival

Basket Festival

Craft · Antequera · March 14–17, alongside Antequera Foundation Day

When
March 14–17, alongside Antequera Foundation Day
Held
Annual

Overview

The Basket Festival is an annual festival in Antequera municipality celebrating the town’s longstanding identity as Bohol’s primary centre for woven basket production. Antequera has been producing rattan and buri palm baskets, trays, and handicrafts for generations — the cottage industry forms a significant part of local livelihoods. The festival marks this economic and cultural tradition through street performances, market displays, and competition among weavers.

Antequera’s Sunday market (tiangge) is a well-known destination for basket buyers from across Bohol and Cebu. The festival amplifies this commercial and cultural identity into a formal civic event.

The Basket Festival is officially named the Piskaya Antequera Basket Festival and is held annually alongside Antequera’s Foundation Day celebration, March 14–17 (Piskaya is a Bisaya/Cebuano word meaning “abundance” or “plenty”). The event has also appeared as an official Bohol provincial contingent — “Banay Mangbubukag of Piskaya Antequera” — in the province-wide “Sandugo sa Bohol” festival-of-festivals lineup, confirming the Piskaya Festival and the Basket Festival are the same event.

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Location

Antequera is a municipality in the northwestern interior of Bohol, approximately 18 kilometres from Tagbilaran City by road. The festival takes place in the town poblacion area. The Inambakan Cave and Spring is nearby and can be combined with a festival visit.

Getting There

From Tagbilaran City, jeepneys and V-hires depart from Dao Terminal toward Antequera. Travel time is approximately 30 to 45 minutes. On festival days, additional transport options typically operate from Tagbilaran.

Practical Info

The Piskaya Antequera Basket Festival runs March 14–17 each year, coinciding with Antequera’s Foundation Day. The four-day schedule typically includes: blessing and opening of the basket and agricultural display booths (Day 1); a Women’s Day celebration with livelihood seminars and the Kanta Piskaya singing competition (Day 2); the Tour De Antequera trail runs (21km, 10km, and 5km) and an evening concert (Day 3); and, on Foundation Day itself, a thanksgiving mass, floral offering, civic program, parade, street dancing, and festival ritual showdown, capped by a live band (Day 4). Visitor inquiries can be directed to the Antequera Municipal Tourism Office, Poblacion, Antequera — contact person Ms. Ma. Lorna Jadulco, Municipal Tourism and Cultural Officer, tel. 0998-386-4520, email municipalityofantequera@gmail.com (also listed as municipalityofantequera@yahoo.com on the provincial tourism site), open Monday–Friday 8:00 AM–5:00 PM. The Antequera Sunday market operates year-round and is a reliable time to see and buy baskets regardless of the festival schedule. Basket prices at the market are set by producers directly, with no fixed prices — negotiation is standard.

What to Expect

Street parades featuring basket-themed costumes and floats, market stalls with weavers demonstrating traditional techniques, and competitions between weaving groups. For visitors interested in the craft economy, the festival provides direct access to producers and a broader range of products than the regular Sunday market. Buri and rattan are the primary materials; products range from utilitarian baskets to decorative pieces.

Notes

Source: BPTO Table 11 — Inventory of Tourist Attractions (Bohol Tourism Profile Eco Dev 2025). The source lists this attraction by name and category only; festival-specific details below were enriched from the Antequera LGU website, the Bohol provincial tourism site, and local press coverage.

The festival was first held in 2015: a 2016 Bohol Chronicle article quotes a municipal tourism spokesperson (Russel Villas) describing that year’s edition as “the second year of our celebration,” implying a 2015 inaugural staging. Later coverage (2024, 2026) confirms the event runs annually as part of Antequera’s Foundation Day (March 14–17) under the combined name “Piskaya Antequera Basket Festival.”

2026-07-28 research round (fresh angle from prior pass): the previous note flagged uncertainty over whether the BPTO-listed “Basket Festival” was the same event as the LGU’s “Piskaya Festival.” This was resolved via the official Antequera LGU events page and Bohol provincial-tourism social coverage of the 2026 “Sandugo sa Bohol” festival lineup, both of which use the combined name “Piskaya Antequera Basket Festival” for Antequera’s contingent — confirming the two names refer to one event, not two separate ones as previously suspected.

Where it happens

Plan the trip around the host town

Antequera: Bohol's Sunday Basket Market Townmunicipality

Antequera: Bohol's Sunday Basket Market Town

Antequera is an inland municipality north of Tagbilaran known for its Sunday handicraft market, where household weavers sell rattan, bamboo, and pandan baskets produced across the town's barangays.

Best: Dec–Apr